The jury's verdict in the "Welding Fumes" lawsuit has made further litigation on the subject much harder for attorneys who wish to continue to press cases.

By agreeing with the defendants in the suit, that fumes from welding did not cause injury or illness to Ernesto G. Solis, and that the defendants in the case, which included Lincoln Electric Holdings Inc., Hobart Brothers Co., TDY Industries Inc. and ESAB Group, were not liable for any health issues Solis might have, the jury has set an important precedent, and it looks as if the plaintiff's lawyers are going to find it difficult to overcome that setback.

The Solis trial marks the eleventh time (out of 12 suits) that the industry has successfully argued before a jury that welding fumes are not responsible for damaging the health of welders. An additional 3,800 similar suits from all over the United States have been consolidated as multidistrict litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio in Cleveland, where the Solis trial was held. The classification of "multidistrict litigation" means that future trials that may arise from those cases will be under the jurisdiction of U.S. District Judge Kathleen O'Malley.

By all accounts, Judge O'Malley is a straightforward, no-nonsense jurist, and chances are that she will want the plaintiffs' lawyers to give to her very strong reasons to allow similar suits to continue in her court. She's not likely to want to waste her time, nor the lawyers', witnesses' or jurors' time and the money that will be involved hearing trials that will have similar outcomes.

And, Solis' case was supposed to be the strongest that the plaintiffs' lawyers could have put before a jury.

The prosecution issued a very strong statement after the jury returned its verdict, claiming a victory in the fact that Lincoln Electric's chief executive officer "was forced" to admit under oath that welding fumes are potentially dangerous. But their statement sound to me like more bluff than fact, when they are examined in context.

By admitting under oath that welding fumes are potentially hazardous, the Lincoln Electric CEO was acknowledging that the industry has put warnings about the potential for hazards from welding fumes on welding rod packaging since 1967. It would have been ridiculous to say otherwise.

However, Solis' lawyers said what you would expect lawyers to say after a verdict goes against them: They are considering an appeal.

They may do that. They also may push Judge O'Malley to hear another trial with another plaintiff. But smart money will bet against them being successful.

The lawyers for the defense have argued that there are no direct correlations between illnesses that welders have reported and welding fumes, and 11 out of 12 juries have agreed with them.

That's not to say that welding fumes do not have the potential to be hazardous. That potential is the reason for the warning on the welding rod packaging, and the best care should be taken to reduce the hazards as much as possible.

However, with the majority of juries siding with the industry and with a precedent-setting case heard in her courtroom, it now will be the decision of Judge O'Malley to decide whether to allow these suits to proceed, or to reject them and let the industry get back to work.