On February 24, 2026, the Ninth Circuit reversed a judgment from the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana awarding damages to plaintiffs in a Libby, Montana asbestos case, holding that BNSF Railway cannot be held strictly liable for asbestos-contaminated vermiculite that accumulated on its tracks and railyard.
In August 2025, the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court’s decision to exclude an expert’s causation opinion as unreliable and grant summary judgment in favor of a herbicide manufacturer. The case, which arose from claims that exposure to an herbicide caused the plaintiff’s blood cancer, underscores the critical importance of rigorous and well-supported expert analysis in toxic tort litigation and the judiciary’s gatekeeping role under Federal Rule of Evidence 702.1