Gottschall

BACKGROUND

On February 5, 2010, Robert Gottschall filed a complaint in San Francisco Superior Court against Crane and 17 of the original 18 defendants, all of which had allegedly caused him to develop an “asbestos-related disease” because of the products those defendants produced, and to which he was exposed by his work from 1957 to 1989 in a variety of shipyards and other similar facilities. Gottschall died, and on August 13,

1 2010, the superior court entered an order substituting his eldest daughter, Kimbra Gottschall, as the personal representative of his estate and his four other children (collectively, appellants). Appellants then filed a first amended complaint against 17 of the original 18 defendants, including Crane. On November 10, 2010, appellants filed a wrongful death and survival action in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California against six defendants that had not been named in the superior court action. Shortly thereafter, that action was transferred to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, which had been designated as the “MDL court,” i.e., the court to handle multi-district litigation. In both…