JM Eagle ramps up law firm RICO cases

By David Thomas

Jan 29 (Reuters) - Plastic pipe maker JM Eagle on Wednesday expanded its legal campaign against plaintiff's law firms that spearheaded hundreds of asbestos cases against the company, filing a new racketeering lawsuit against a law firm based in Edwardsville, Illinois.

JM Eagle's lawsuit, filed in East St. Louis, Illinois, federal court under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, alleges that the Gori Law Firm "devised, organized, and participated in a fraudulent scheme to defraud" JM Eagle and other asbestos defendants in tort litigation.

The lawsuit claims the Gori firm used a "bounty system" to reward attorneys who coached witnesses into providing testimony stating they were exposed to products made by certain defendants, including JM Eagle.

"This lawsuit seeks accountability for what we allege was an industrial-scale fraud operation: manufactured claims, coached testimony, and the deliberate exploitation of the legal system for profit," the company's general counsel Frank Fletcher said in a statement.

The Gori firm said in a statement it was "outraged by these ridiculous claims from an asbestos company," describing its claims as scare tactics.

JM Eagle sued Alton, Illinois-based Simmons Hanly Conroy over similar RICO claims in 2024. A federal judge in Chicago dismissed the lawsuit last March, but the PVC pipe maker has since revived the case and brought claims against a second firm, Sokolove Law.

Simmons Hanly and Sokolove Law have denied wrongdoing, and asked the court to dismiss the amended complaint. The firms' attorneys at Jenner & Block did not immediately respond to a request for comment.