CMBG3 Law is pleased to announce that its attorneys successfully secured a dismissal for their client in an asbestos case pending in Rhode Island. The lawsuit alleged that the client was responsible for manufacturing products which allegedly contained asbestos and that those products caused the Plaintiff’s disease. CMBG3 argued that suit against the company was improperly brought in Rhode Island and that Rhode Island courts did not have personal jurisdiction over the company for its alleged actions. The Plaintiffs argued that the company placed the product at issue into the “stream of commerce” and that the Plaintiffs purchased the product in Rhode Island. Plaintiffs argued that these facts were alone sufficient to justify the exercise of jurisdiction over the company in Rhode Island.

In its briefing, CMBG3 discussed the evolution of the law of personal jurisdiction, emphasizing that the “stream of commerce alone” theory is insufficient under Supreme Court precedent and Rhode Island law and that personal jurisdiction may only be had over defendants that have substantial conduct in or directed to the State of Rhode Island, facts that were absent in this case.

At oral argument, CMBG3 lawyers ensured that the Court’s focus remained on these critical issues and to ignore other factors that were irrelevant to the issue of personal jurisdiction. After consideration, Judge Alice B. Gibney, Presiding Justice of the Rhode Island Superior Court, agreed with CMBG3 and granted dismissal.

 Eric J. Robbie, a partner with CMBG3, briefed and argued the motion for the client.