U.S. Supreme Court
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The companies challenging how asbestos lawsuits are handled in South Carolina plan to take the issue all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Unsuccessful at the state Supreme Court, Altrad Group and others disclosed in a recent motion to dismiss the case that has become the epicenter of the debate over a former chief justice’s power that it is preparing a petition for review for the U.S. Supreme Court.
“The Charter defendants request that this court hold this motion in abeyance pending the filing and disposition of the Charter defendants’ petition for a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court of the United States,” they wrote Aug. 25.
Earlier this year, the South Carolina Supreme Court largely approved Judge Jean H. Toal’s order assigning local personal injury attorney Peter Protopapas over Cape Intermediate Holdings, a U.K. firm whose corporate predecessor once mined asbestos in South Africa.
Toal, a former state chief justice who now oversees the asbestos docket, has authorized Protopapas as “receiver” over mostly defunct companies named in lawsuits. In that role, he sues those companies’ former insurers over decades-old policies, extracting money in settlements that he puts into funds in Delaware.
He and other lawyers keep their percentages while the rest is set aside to compensate plaintiffs who sue the companies over asbestos. Protopapas filed a report on his activities over nearly eight years in July, writing that his efforts have led to the distribution of more than $113 million to claimants.
The average settlement is around $250,000. There have been 1,841 claims filed, with 550 dismissed without payment and 456 settled.
The saga of Altrad, Charter and others revolves around Cape Intermediate Holdings, a U.K. firm whose corporate predecessor once mined asbestos in South Africa. Cape’s corporate parent, Altrad Group, has refused to appear in South Carolina court since neither it nor Cape ever conducted business in the state.
Protopapas has sued Altrad and other companies, including the DeBeers mining conglomerate, in Cape’s name, saying they were “alter egos” liable for paying asbestos claims made by South Carolina plaintiff lawyers against Cape.
Rejecting arguments Judge Toal had no jurisdiction over Cape and that Protopapas is interfering in the company’s operations – claims a U.K. court endorsed by slapping a global injunction on Protopapas – justices on the South Carolina court said Judge Toal “met the spirit of our instructions.”
Altrad argued successfully before the U.K. Court of High Justice that Judge Toal and Protopapas had no business interfering in Cape’s operations. That court fined Protopapas $1.3 million and issued a global injunction against him acting in Cape’s name. Protopapas refused to appear in the U.K. court to answer Cape’s claims, just as Cape has refused to appear in Judge Toal’s court.
In the opinion by Justice D. Garrison Hill, the court expressed deference to Judge Toal and displeasure bordering on contempt toward Altrad and Cape. The court seemed to acknowledge Judge Toal had exceeded her authority by appointing Protopapas receiver over Cape before the company had any judgments against it but said it will only enforce that rule in future cases.
The decision allows Protopapas to continue filing demands for information about any insurance Cape has and to sue companies he believes are alter egos of Cape. The decision contrasts with a 2025 ruling by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals rejecting an attempt by Protopapas to prevent another company involved in talc litigation from filing for bankruptcy in New Jersey.
