San Francisco (September 11, 2007) – Attorneys Gary D. Sharp (Detroit) and Jennifer McCormick (San Francisco) successfully defended Calaveras Asbestos, Ltd. with the jury returning a defense verdict after a month-long trial in San Francisco Superior Court. The Plaintiffs, family members of a 75-year-old gentleman who died of mesothelioma, sued Calaveras for providing raw fiber to the CertainTeed Corporation in the manufacture of asbestos cement pipe. The allegations were that the decedent was exposed to the raw fiber as a result of his work as a pipeline worker installing CertainTeed pipe in Southern California. Plaintiffs’ counsel presented expert testimony that the Calaveras fiber was the cause of the decedent’s cancer and that the decedent was an ordinary consumer who did not appreciate the risks in the use of the product. Calaveras countered with expert testimony that the fiber type mined in the Calaveras mine did not cause the cancer and further that the decedent’s employer had the duty to provide a safe work place. The jury agreed with Calaveras and found that its conduct did not contribute to the decedent’s disease and also found that the decedent knew of the inherent risks involved in working with the asbestos cement pipe.