Two of three asbestos cases set for trial settled this week

Two of three asbestos cases that had been set for trial this week in Madison County have settled.

Lawyers from Maune Raichle Hartley French & Mudd in St. Louis represent the plaintiffs in all three mesothelioma cases.

Plaintiffs Charles Elmore of North Carolina and Roger Kinsey of Ohio settled their claims before going to trial for an undisclosed amount, according to Madison County Associate Judge Clarence Harrison.

Elmore sued John Crane and 29 other defendants last March, claiming exposure while serving in the U.S. Army and as a boilermaker, welder and pipefitter for Norris Supply in Gastonia, N.C. He claims he learned of his mesothelioma on Nov. 4, 2011.

Kinsey's suit filed last April claimed exposure while working for the U.S. Navy and at General Motors in Sandusky, Ohio. He also claimed exposure from home remodeling and repair projects, including roofing, flooring and drywalling. He claimed he learned of his mesothelioma on Dec. 29, 2011.

In the third case set for trial, plaintiff Robert Leveque of the Springfield area, claims first hand exposure through maintenance work at golf courses and through employment by the state of Illinois, as well as second-hand exposure through asbestos fibers his father allegedly carried home.

Leveque's case is still being negotiated with three or four remaining defendants, according to Harrison.

Leveque claims he learned of his mesothelioma Jan. 6, 2012.

Madison County cases 12-L-441, 12-L-297, and 12-L-339.