science

Newport News asbestos litigation

Newport News asbestos litigation is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Newport News asbestos litigation rather than just read about it. In short: In Newport News, Virginia, asbestos litigation is driven by the presence of Newport News Shipbuilding and other defense contractors. Asbestos was widely used in the shipbuilding industry.

Key takeaways

Newport News asbestos litigation belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Newport News asbestos litigation to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Newport News asbestos litigation from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

In Newport News, Virginia, asbestos litigation is driven by the presence of Newport News Shipbuilding and other defense contractors. Asbestos was widely used in the shipbuilding industry.

Cases About 500 people have died due to asbestos exposure at the Newport News shipyard.

Exxon In March 2011, a jury in Newport News awarded about $25 million to a former shipyard worker named Rubert Minton. Minton had worked on 17 different Exxon tankers over the course of his career. Decades later he began to suffer from mesothelioma. He filed suit against Exxon in 2009. Minton's lead attorney was Robert Hatten. Hatten said the award would be reduced to about $17.5 million because the $12.5 million in punitive damages awarded by the jury exceeded the $5 million that had been demanded by Minton. Suits against ship owners were a novel legal development. Most of the asbestos suits in Newport News had previously been brought against parts makers. Shipyards have immunity from asbestos suits under worker's compensation laws. Exxon said the shipyard was solely responsible for the safety of its workers and that there was no proof on its ships. Minton lawyers said Exxon knew about health risks from asbestos in the 1930s and created rules to protect its own workers but did nothing to warn shipyard workers.

Dorthe Crisp Gibbs v. Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. Gibbs was an active-duty member of the United States Navy when he was exposed to asbestos after being ordered to take part in pre-commission tests of a nuclear submarine. He later developed mesothelioma and died in 2009. Gibbs sued Newport News in 2008. His wife continued that suit and sued for wrongful death. The state circuit court dismissed her case. The court ruled that worker's compensation was her exclusive remedy. The Virginia state supreme court overturned the circuit court's decision in 2012. It found that because the Navy was not liable under worker's compensation Gibbs could file suit against Newport News.

Criticism The American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) has named Newport News a "Judicial Hellhole" for allegedly applying the law in biased manner in favor of plaintiffs. Plaintiffs in Newport News have roughly an 87% success rate. Robert Hatten, a leading asbestos attorney in Newport News of the firm Patten, Wornom, Hatten & Diamondstein, said the ATRA was engaging in "propaganda."

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Newport News asbestos litigation

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Newport News asbestos litigation claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Newport News asbestos litigation before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Newport News asbestos litigation ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Newport News asbestos litigation

In research: Newport News asbestos litigation appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Newport News asbestos litigation in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Newport News asbestos litigation is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Asbestos disasters, Newport News, Virginia, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Newport News asbestos litigation outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Newport News asbestos litigation in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Newport News asbestos litigation means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Newport News asbestos litigation out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Newport News asbestos litigation in simple terms?

In Newport News, Virginia, asbestos litigation is driven by the presence of Newport News Shipbuilding and other defense contractors. Asbestos was widely used in the shipbuilding industry.

Why does Newport News asbestos litigation matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Newport News asbestos litigation?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Newport News asbestos litigation.