I've learned that a California appeals court ruled Monday that even though a jury's verdict included liability for two defendants, only one judgment on which to calculate interest existed.

Maxlyn Cadlo had argued that under California Civil Code Section 3291 defendants Metalclad Insulation Corp. and John Crane Inc. should each pay 10 percent prejudgment interest on the full amount of the judgment.  Section 3291 requires that, where a judgment against a defendant is larger than a reasonable settlement offer that it rejected, the defendant must pay interest on the judgment.

But the court concluded that applying Section 3291 as Cadlo sought would defeat the purpose of the statute, which is to facilitate settlements.  Further, "though two defendants were found liable by the jury, only one judgment resulted, and the interest imposed by Section 3291 is to be calculated on that amount," the court held.

I'll have a full report in the April 15 issue of the Mealey Publications Asbestos Litigation Report.