In August 2017, plaintiff Donald Knutson, 72, was diagnosed with mesothelioma, which is an aggressive, incurable cancer that often stems from exposure to asbestos. Knutson claimed he was exposed to asbestos while working around automotive parts in the mid- to late 1960s, including two years as a delivery driver and warehouseman at Rox Auto Parts, in San Francisco, where there was an AMMCO brake arc grinder. He later worked for seven years as a machinist at Hunter’s Point Naval Shipyard. Knutson also claimed he was exposed, as a civilian, to construction products for remodel work done on his personal homes and properties that he purchased and flipped. Knutson sued the manufacturer of the brake arc grinder, Hennessy Industries Inc. (the successor to AMMCO Tools Inc.), and various other companies, such as Air & Liquid Systems Corp., that were believed to have manufactured, distributed and/or worked with asbestos-containing products to which the Knutson was allegedly exposed. Knutson alleged that the defendants were negligent and strictly liable under theories of risk benefit, consumer expectation, failure to warn, and design defect. The claims regarding Air & Liquid Systems and several other defendants resolved before trial, and the matter continued against Hennessy Industries only. Plaintiff’s counsel argued that the AMMCO arc grinder should been designed to better control asbestos dust and that there should have been more-effective warnings on the machine. The plaintiff’s experts opined that the dangers of asbestos were well known to everyone by the mid-1930s and that AMMCO knew or should have known that the asbestos dust generated by using the brake arc grinding machine as intended would cause harm. Hennessy’s counsel contended that at all relevant times the AMMCO machine met or exceeded relevant industry standards regarding exposure limits and that all of the relevant exposures pre-dated Occupational Safety and Health Administration requirements. Counsel also contended that there were no known scientific studies showing that brake mechanics, much less a bystander to someone operating the machine, were at increased risks and that Irving Selikoff, a medical researcher who established a link between the inhalation of asbestos particles and lung-related ailments in the 1960s, expressly stated in 1969, two years after Knutson’s last claimed exposure, that they were not linked. The defense’s pathology expert testified that the epidemiology studies do not show that brake mechanics are at an increased risk of developing mesothelioma and that amphiboles are substantially more toxic than chrysotile fibers. Based on that expert’s testimony, Hennessy’s counsel contended that Knutson was exposed to significant amphibole fibers during his work at Hunter’s Point. In addition, the defense’s maritime/admiralty expert, a retired U.S. Navy captain, testified about the likelihood of amphibole exposure at Hunter’s Point., In August 2017, Knutson was diagnosed with mesothelioma, which he treated with chemotherapy. The plaintiff’s pathology expert addressed the diagnosis of Knutson’s disease and the plaintiff’s toxicology expert addressed causation and treatment. The plaintiff’s medical experts opined that Knutson would not survive past June 2019. The plaintiff’s economics expert testified as to Knutson’s alleged economic damages. Knutson sought recovery of economic damages for his past and future medical costs. He also sought recovery of non-economic damages for his alleged past and future pain and suffering. His wife, Leslie Hirschaut-Knutson, 59 at the time of her husband’s diagnosis, a psychiatrist, sought recovery for her loss of consortium. The defense’s pulmonology expert testified about Knutson’s life expectancy based on his alleged comorbidities.