A federal jury in Natchez, Mississippi, has reportedly ruled that two attorneys will have to pay back $210,000 in settlement funds paid to their clients and $210,000 in punitive damages for alleged fraudulent claims they filed in an asbestos case that settled in 2002.
Attorneys William Guy and Thomas Brock had filed claims for two men in an asbestos suit against Illinois Central Railroad. According to published reports, however, the two men had already received compensation in a 1995 asbestos-related legal action. Had their involvement in that case been known, they would apparently have been prohibited from participating in the suit against the railroad.
“Illinois Central is pleased that a Mississippi federal jury held these plaintiffs’ lawyers liable for fraud in asbestos claims against us,” a spokesperson was quoted as saying in a railroad news release. “Our company will continue to aggressively pursue all suspected fraud or litigation abuses.” See The Natchez Democrat, March 11, 2010.
