Mesothelioma

The plaintiff's attorney argued that his client had lost 40 pounds and may not survive to attend the trial if it is postponed.

One year to prepare Maddux denied the request for a continuance and told the defense lawyer to subpoena the employer, ordering it to bring the records to the trial or be held in contempt.

His denial is illustrative of how Maddux keeps the asbestos cases on track.

His goal is to give both sides about a year to prepare for trial, though most cases are settled before they reach that stage.

It is an ambitious schedule, considering some complaints run 300 pages and have more than 50 defendants.

"What you try to do is give a person a day in court while they are still with us," Maddux said in an interview after the motion call.

He follows case-management guidelines that Cook County put in place in 1990s.

The guidelines were aimed at preventing the court from being overwhelmed with thousands of claims from people who had been exposed to asbestos, but who had not contracted cancer or other life-threatening illnesses.

These so-called unimpaired claims-described by defense lawyers as "junk" cases-have delayed justice in numerous other jurisdictions and created a litigation mess rife with unscrupulous lawyers and doctors.

But Cook County's system has created some friction.

Lawyers on both sides complain that t...

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