Federal RICO Lawsuit Filed Alleging Systematic Asbestos Litigation Fraud
J-M Manufacturing Company, Inc., one of the largest privately held manufacturing companies headquartered in Los Angeles, today announced that it has filed a federal lawsuit alleging a long-running racketeering and fraud scheme carried out by The Gori Law Firm, one of the most active asbestos plaintiffs’ law firms in the United States, and several of its senior partners, with the complaint based on information provided by a whistleblower insider as well as additional documentary and testimonial evidence gathered by the company.
Claims Asserted Under RICO and Related Causes of Action
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, asserts claims under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) in addition to common-law fraud, unjust enrichment, and civil conspiracy, alleging that the defendants engaged in a coordinated and sustained scheme to file and prosecute sham asbestos lawsuits, pursue claims lacking factual support, coach witnesses to provide false testimony, and use the cumulative weight of hundreds of meritless cases to extract settlements from J-M Manufacturing and other companies through deception and litigation pressure.
Alleged Pattern of Baseless Lawsuits Used as Settlement Leverage
According to the complaint, the defendants allegedly filed hundreds of objectively baseless asbestos lawsuits naming J-M Manufacturing as a defendant, not with the expectation of prevailing on the merits, but to create artificial settlement leverage, with the lawsuit asserting that these cases were strategically filed in bulk, prosecuted just long enough to impose significant defense costs, and then dismissed or quietly abandoned once settlement objectives were achieved, forming a central pillar of what J-M Manufacturing characterizes as an industrial-scale fraud operation.
Whistleblower Evidence of a Bounty-Based Incentive System
The complaint details whistleblower evidence describing an internal “bounty” system within The Gori Law Firm that allegedly rewarded attorneys for persuading plaintiffs to attribute asbestos exposure to specific targeted companies regardless of factual accuracy, with the lawsuit alleging that deposition attorneys earning base salaries of approximately $65,000 per year could receive bonuses of up to $900,000 annually for securing allegations against companies appearing on internal bounty lists, creating powerful financial incentives to manufacture exposure claims.
Company Statement on the Filing of the Lawsuit
Frank Fletcher, General Counsel for J-M Manufacturing Company, stated that the company filed the federal RICO lawsuit against The Gori Law Firm and its partners based on evidence from a whistleblower insider and other direct sources, alleging that the firm orchestrated a systematic scheme to file hundreds of fraudulent asbestos lawsuits against J-M Manufacturing, noting that 96% of those cases were ultimately dismissed, and emphasizing that the lawsuit seeks accountability for what the company alleges was a deliberate exploitation of the legal system through manufactured claims, coached testimony, and the pursuit of profit at the expense of fairness and judicial integrity.
Defense Costs and Alleged Harm to the Company
According to the complaint, J-M Manufacturing was forced to spend millions of dollars defending lawsuits brought on behalf of plaintiffs who never worked with, handled, or were exposed to the company’s products, including individuals whose employment histories predated the company’s formation, with the lawsuit asserting that these defense costs represent a direct financial injury caused by the alleged racketeering activity and fraudulent litigation practices.
Profile of J-M Manufacturing and Its Limited Asbestos History
J-M Manufacturing, owned by Los Angeles-based industrialist Walter Wang, is the largest producer of plastic pipe in the United States and one of the largest manufacturers globally, having been formed in 1983 and supplying a limited amount of asbestos-cement pipe between 1983 and 1988 solely to meet the requirements of certain water districts that mandated or approved its use prior to the company’s transition to polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe, a narrow historical footprint that the company argues does not justify the volume of claims filed against it.
Concentration of Lawsuits in Southern Illinois
Despite this limited asbestos-related history, the complaint alleges that The Gori Law Firm has named J-M Manufacturing in more than 400 asbestos lawsuits since 2018, with the majority filed in Madison and St. Clair counties in Southern Illinois, jurisdictions along the Mississippi River that have become widely recognized as the epicenter of asbestos litigation in the United States due to high filing volumes and procedural dynamics favorable to plaintiffs.
Asbestos Litigation Trends in Madison County
Madison County, which has a population of approximately 265,000, ranked as the top asbestos filing venue in the nation in 2024, surpassing far larger metropolitan areas such as New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles, with the complaint alleging that The Gori Law Firm, headquartered in Edwardsville, Illinois, filed roughly 20% of all asbestos cases nationwide in 2024 and has claimed more than $4 billion in recoveries since its inception.
Extraordinary Dismissal Rates Cited in the Complaint
The lawsuit highlights that approximately 96% of the asbestos cases filed against J-M Manufacturing were ultimately dismissed after factual scrutiny, an outcome the company argues is inconsistent with legitimate mass-tort litigation and instead reflects a deliberate business model designed to pressure defendants into settling frivolous claims to avoid escalating legal costs and reputational risk.
Whistleblower’s Role in Uncovering the Alleged Scheme
According to the complaint, J-M Manufacturing was unaware that it was the target of an alleged fraudulent litigation strategy until 2024, when a whistleblower who previously worked as a deposition attorney at The Gori Law Firm between approximately 2018 and 2024 came forward, providing detailed information about the alleged bounty program and the firm’s strategy of using frivolous cases to structure batch settlements.
Allegations of Coached Testimony and Pre-Drafted Affidavits
The complaint alleges that attorneys were trained to present elderly and often gravely ill plaintiffs with pre-drafted exposure affidavits tied to asbestos bankruptcy trusts before conducting meaningful investigation, and to rely on internal product-identification booklets to coach plaintiffs into “recognizing” specific companies and products they could not independently recall from decades earlier.
Concealment of Inconsistent Exposure Narratives
According to the lawsuit, the defendants allegedly delayed submission of asbestos bankruptcy trust claims until after depositions were completed in order to conceal inconsistencies between sworn testimony and trust filings, while simultaneously filing dozens of lawsuits at a time, many of which were later dismissed, to create leverage during batch settlement negotiations with defendants.
Description of Deposition Coaching Practices
The complaint states that plaintiffs often could not recall which products they were exposed to many years earlier, and alleges that deposition attorneys were trained to tell plaintiffs that even if they did not recognize specific companies, the firm’s research purportedly showed exposure to the products of defendants recommended for inclusion, effectively substituting scripted narratives for independent recollection.
Broader Economic and Public Interest Implications
Beyond the alleged harm to J-M Manufacturing, the lawsuit situates these claims within a broader national context, citing data indicating that more than 100 U.S. companies have been driven into bankruptcy as a result of asbestos litigation, leading to the loss of tens of thousands of jobs across manufacturing, mining, construction materials, and shipbuilding industries.
Distinguishing Legitimate Claims From Alleged Abuse
The complaint emphasizes a distinction between legitimate efforts to hold companies accountable for genuine asbestos exposure and what J-M Manufacturing alleges is systemic abuse of the litigation process, arguing that fraudulent mass filings undermine public confidence in the civil justice system while diverting resources away from truly injured claimants.
Company’s Position on Accountability and Judicial Review
J-M Manufacturing states that it looks forward to presenting its evidence in court and pursuing accountability through the judicial process, asserting that the lawsuit is intended not only to address the company’s own alleged injuries but also to expose practices that it claims threaten the integrity of asbestos litigation nationwide.
Source link:https://www.businesswire.com/
