As a Manhattan appeals court prepares to hear a challenge against a new case management order for New York City's asbestos docket, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's tort reform arm has waded into the fight, arguing in a new report that the changes will tip the scales in plaintiffs' favor.

The new case management order was set to take effect on July 20, but on the prior day Appellate Division, First Department, Justice Ellen Gesmer signed an order to stay implementation of all provisions of the new order except for the controversial reinstatement of the punitive damages option for plaintiffs.

But the authors of a report prepared for the chamber's Institute for Legal Reform—a separately incorporated affiliate of the chamber—argue that allowing plaintiffs to seek punitive damages leads to “vastly inflated verdicts.”