A judge who since Sheldon Silver’s arrest has come under scrutiny for the sky-high damages that juries in her court have awarded to Weitz & Luxenberg clients recently slashed a record $190 million asbestos-poisoning payout to less than $30 million.
Defense attorneys on Wednesday speculated that the 84 percent reduction may be the result of bad publicity in The Post and other news outlets.
In a decision dated Feb. 5, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Joan Madden ordered a new hearing on a 2013 jury verdict in her court that gave five mesothelioma victims represented by Weitz a total of $190 million — the highest award of its kind at the time.
In the weeks before the staggering decrease, The Post reported that Weitz, which US Attorney Preet Bharara says paid former Assembly Speaker Silver $5.3 million for a no-show job, received special treatment from a section of the court that handles asbestos cases.
“The timing of the opinion would certainly raise the question: Is this a p.r. stunt?” asked defense attorney and civil-justice reform advocate Mark Behrens.
Another advocate for tort reform said, “Defense attorneys think the drastic reduction is a result of new scrutiny of the New York asbestos docket as a result of Sheldon Silver’s arrest.”
A defense lawyer involved in asbestos cases in Manhattan speculated, “Judge Madden is a little scared of some of the adverse publicity she’s getting.” The award reduction “suggests that some of these articles are making points and she’s listening to them,” he said.
The lawyer, who declined to give his name, fearing retribution from Weitz in settlements with his clients, pointed out that Madden lowered another jury award from $32 million to $8 million in 2012.
When the record-breaking asbestos verdict was announced, Weitz lawyer Adam Cooper bragged online about his politically connected firm: “It’s a place that is recognized and dare I say feared in the courtroom.”
A spokesman for Weitz declined to comment.
Madden declined to comment on her ruling, but court spokesman David Bookstaver said, “Judge Madden’s decision was essentially written, substantively, five to six weeks ago. It wasn’t released because she was on trial and she had to review it.”