BENJAMIN BAKER v. OWENS CORNING FIBERGLAS

Outcome: 21.9 Million Dollar Verdict for Plaintiff

Description: In May of 1997, I and two of my co counsel, Spencer Parris and Bill Connelly, tried the case in the 250th Judicial District Court of Travis County, Texas. The trial lasted two weeks, during which the jury heard from Ben Baker, who had provided his sworn testimony on video before he died. The jury also learned of Owens Corning’s conduct before and during Baker’s exposure to its Kaylo insulation. And what the jury heard outraged them. It became clear that had Owens Corning and others in the asbestos industry acted responsibly before Baker spent a lifetime working with their products, he would not have suffered as he did from the agonizingly slow and painful death of Mesothelioma. The jury deliberated for two days before returning a verdict of two (2) million dollars in compensatory damages for the Baker family and twenty (20) million dollars in punitive damages to punish Owens Corning for its misconduct. This verdict is the largest personal injury verdict in the history of Travis County. Though the judge ultimately ordered Owens Corning to pay a sharply reduced amount, the jury had sent a strong message to Owens Corning and other members of the asbestos industry that continues to reverberate to this day