UM Grace Case

Tuesday morning started with the defense continuing cross examination of Mr. Becker. There was a concerted effort in the courtroom to wear green, with Judge Molloy opening the day with a comment that he was wearing a green tie, which was slightly visible above his court robe. But things were quickly brought back to business [...]

After a rapid-fire morning, the cross-exam of James Becker continued after the morning break, ending just before lunch. Stephen Spivack, attorney for Robert Walsh made quick work of his point: Becker did not know Walsh, the two never worked together; furthermore, Becker knew nothing about the Consumer Products Division (CPD) during the 1980s when Walsh [...]

The last two defense attorneys finished their cross-examination of former Grace financial analyst James Becker on Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kris McLean made his redirect, and the government called another witness to the stand to wrap up the morning.
Defense attorneys Stephen Spivack and Thomas Frongillo quickly established that Becker had nothing to say about their [...]

 On cross examination, using mostly non-leading questions, David Bernick attempted to undermine James Becker’s direct testimony by focusing on: (1) what Becker did not know, (2) that Becker was an overly “coached” witness, and (3) that the “logic tree” [government exhibit 57(b)—created by Becker in 1976 and listing the possible legal and financial consequences Grace [...]

Government witness and former Grace financial analyst James Becker testified Monday about Grace’s efforts to reduce the company’s vulnerability to potential lawsuits, new government regulation, and bad publicity due to the presence of tremolite asbestos in its products.
Becker was part of an internal Grace committee charged with developing company policy to deal with tremolite-related liabilities [...]

Mr. Frongillo’s recross examination focused mostly on attacking the credibility of Dr. Miller’s testimony and the credibility of the documents he had helped prepare for the Government. Mr. Frongillo attempted to persuade the jury that the EPA’s decision to not show the jury all of its original documents was misleading. Mr. Frongillo pointed out [...]

 During his time as a senior financial analyst for W.R. Grace, James Becker was charged with looking into the viability of the Zonolite Company, a division of W.R. Grace, given a variety of hypothetical situations. According to Becker, one of the biggest problems facing the company was tighter asbestos regulations that would force the company [...]

  Top employees at W.R. Grace knew about asbestos contamination in the Libby, Mont., mine since the late 1970s, James Richard Becker, Jr., said in court Monday morning. Becker, a former financial analyst for W.R. Grace, said the company worried it would have to change the way ore from Libby, Mont., was processed – an [...]