The Return Of Mold

A ‘Friends’ reunion; a ‘Sopranos’ prequel movie; Brittany Spears—pop culture from the early 2000s has made a comeback. Unfortunately something far less enjoyable from that era may also be finding its way back into our lives: mold litigation.

We see multiple signs of a mold sequel and offer advice on how to avoid becoming a star of this show.

Mold cases got a boost in the early 2000s from a verdict in Ballard v. Farmer’s Insurance Group, when a Texas jury awarded a homeowner $32 million arising from alleged ‘toxic’ mold issues.

Although Ballard was an insurance bad faith case, and the verdict was later reduced on appeal, the news of this trial set off a wave of litigation, resulting in significant personal injury verdicts in California and other jurisdictions.

When former ‘Tonight Show’ sidekick Ed McMahon settled his own mold lawsuit in 2003 for over $7 million, the gold rush was on. However, a series of defense verdicts and greater scrutiny of the medical and scientific basis for mold personal injury claims slowed the number of filings after the initial wave.