                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

CONSOLIDATION OR BIFURCATION OF ISSUES OR CLAIMS IN CERTAIN CASES; APPEAL (§
8.01-374.1)

A. In any circuit court in which there are pending more than forty civil actions
against manufacturers or suppliers of asbestos or products for industrial use
that contain asbestos in which recovery is sought for personal injury or
wrongful death alleged to have been caused by exposure to asbestos or products
for industrial use that contain asbestos, the court may order a joint hearing or
trial by jury of any or all common questions of law or fact which are at issue
in those actions. The court may order any or all the actions consolidated,
unless the court finds consolidation would adversely affect the rights of the
parties to a fair trial. The court may submit special interrogatories to the
jury to resolve specific issues of fact, and may make such orders concerning
proceedings therein consistent with the right of each of the parties to a fair
trial as may be appropriate to avoid unnecessary costs, duplicative litigation
or delay.

B. To further convenience or avoid prejudice in such consolidated hearings, when
separate or bifurcated trials will be conducive to judicial economy, the court
may order a separate or bifurcated trial of any claim, or any number of claims,
cross-claims, counterclaims, third-party claims, or separate issues, always
preserving the right of trial by jury. However, in any such bifurcated
proceeding, the entitlement of an individual plaintiff to an award of punitive
damages against any defendant shall not be determined unless compensatory
damages have been awarded to that individual.

C. Any order entered pursuant to this section shall, for purposes of appeal, be
an interlocutory order. Any findings of the court or jury in any bifurcated
trial shall not be appealable until a final order adjudicating all issues on a
specific claim or consolidated group of claims has been entered.

D. This section shall not apply to actions arising under Article 6 (&#xA7;
8.01-57 et seq.) of Chapter 3 of this title or the Federal Employers Liability
Act (45 U.S.C. &#xA7; 51 et seq.). In addition, this section shall not apply to
any party defendant unless that defendant was a manufacturer of, or a supplier
of, asbestos or products for industrial use that contain asbestos, at any of the
times alleged in the motion for judgment.

HISTORY: 1992, c. 615.