IN RE BESTWALL LLC

No. 22-1127, No. 22-1135.

71 F.4th 168 (2023)

IN RE: BESTWALL LLC, Debtor. Bestwall LLC; Georgia-Pacific LLC, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Official Committee of Asbestos Claimants, Defendant-Appellant, and Sander L. Esserman, in His Capacity as Future Claims Representative; Those Parties Listed on Appendix A to Complaint; John and Jane Does 1-1000, Defendants. In re: Bestwall LLC, Debtor. Bestwall LLC; Georgia-Pacific LLC, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Sander L. Esserman, in His Capacity as Future Claimants Representative, Defendant-Appellant, and Official Committee of Asbestos Claimants of Bestwall, LLC; Claimants of Brayton Purcell, LLP; Claimants of Law Offices of Peter G. Angelos, P.C.; Claimants of Weitz & Luxenberg, P.C.; Claimants of Nass Cancelliere; Claimants of Rebecca S. Vinocur, P.A.; Claimants of the Deaton Law Firm; Claimants of O'Brien Law Firm, P.C.; Claimants of Bevan and Associates LPA, Inc.; Claimants of Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer, P.A.; Claimants of the Ferraro Law Firm, PA; Claimants of Shepard Law, P.C.; Claimants of Shrader & Associates, L.L.P.; Claimants of SWMW Law, LLC and Ernest J. Foucha; Claimants of Waters & Kraus, LLP Listed; Claimants of Levy Konigsberg, LLP; Claimants of Flint Law Firm, LLC; Claimants of Maune, Raichle, Hartley, French & Mudd, LLC; Claimants of Cohen Placitella & Roth P.C.; Claimants of the Lanier Law Firm, PC; Claimants of Keller Fishback & Jackson, LLP; Claimants of Kazan, McClain, Satterley & Greenwood; Claimants of Gori Julian & Associates, P.C.; Claimants of Savinis Kane & Galluci, LLC and Prim Law Firm, PLLC; Claimants of Cooney and Conway; Claimants of Buck Law Firm; Claimants of Nemeroff Law Firm, PC; Claimants of Michael B. Serling, P.C.; Claimants of Kelley & Ferraro LLP; Claimants of Thornton Law Firm; Claimants of Bailey Peavy Bailey Cowan Heckaman PLLC; Claimants of Wallace & Graham, P.A., Listed on Appendix A to the Complaint, Defendants.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Decided: June 20, 2023.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

ARGUED: Natalie Diane Ramsey , ROBINSON & COLE, LLP, Wilmington, Delaware; Edwin J. Harron , YOUNG, CONAWAY, STARGATT & TAYLOR LLP, Wilmington, Delaware, for Appellants. Noel John Francisco , JONES DAY, Washington, D.C., for Appellees. ON BRIEF: Davis L. Wright , Wilmington, Delaware, Thomas J. Donlon , ROBINSON & COLE LLP, Stanford, Connecticut; Mark R. Kutny , HAMILTON, STEPHENS, STEELE & MARTIN, PLLC, Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellant Official Committee of Asbestos Claimants. Sharon J. Zieg , Travis G. Buchanan , YOUNG, CONAWAY, STARGATT & TAYLOR LLP, Wilmington, Delaware; Felton E. Parrish , John M. Spencer , ALEXANDER RICKS, PLLC, Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellant Sandler L. Esserman. Gregory M. Gordon , Dallas, Texas, C. Kevin Marshall , Megan Lacy Owen , JONES DAY, Washington, D.C.; Garland S. Cassada , Richard C. Worf, Jr. , ROBINSON, BRADSHAW & HINSON, P.A., Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellee Bestwall LLC. Mark P. Goodman , M. Natasha Labovitz , DEBEVOISE & PLIMPTON LLP, New York, New York; Ross R. Fulton , John R. Miller, Jr. , RAYBURN COOPER & DURHAM, P.A., Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellee Georgia-Pacific LLC.

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge Agee wrote the opinion in which Judge Hudson joined. Judge King wrote an opinion dissenting in part.


The district court affirmed a bankruptcy court order that entered a preliminary injunction preventing thousands of third-party asbestos claims from proceeding against debtor Bestwall LLC's affiliates, including affiliate and non-debtor Georgia-Pacific LLC ("New GP"). The Official Committee of Asbestos Claimants ("Committee"...

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