Asbestos

Asbestos (Greek ????????: a-, "not"; sbestos, "extinguishable") describes any of a group of fibrous metamorphic minerals of the hydrous magnesium silicate variety. The name is derived for its historical use in lamp wicks; the resistance of asbestos to fire has long been exploited for a variety of purposes. It was used in fabrics such as Egyptian burial cloths and Charlemagne's tablecloth, which, according to legend, he threw in a fire to clean. Asbestos occurs naturally in many forms (see below); it is mined from metamorphic deposits.

Litigation

In the United States, asbestos was one of the first hazardous air pollutants regulated under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act of 1970.

Related Topics:
Pollutant - Clean Air Act - 1970

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Today, lawsuits claiming that asbestos caused plaintiffs' diseases form a gigantic part of the total amount of lawsuits pending in American courts. Since the late 1970s, approximately 6% of all filings in American courts each year were related to asbestos, leading to its perception as a sort of poster child of tort reform and the rampant lawsuit excesses of the United States. The original asbestos manufacturers were driven into bankruptcy; plaintiffs have moved to suing corporations which, rather than being direct asbestos manufacturers, were manufacturers or distributors of asbestos-containing products. Many American industries have had asbestos defendants, and dozens of companies have gone bankrupt.http://www.actuary.org/pdf/casualty/mono_dec01asbestos.pdf A RAND study found that less than half the money spent on asbestos litigation went to injured parties; the majority went to attorneys. As of 2004, asbestos cases result in about 600 to 700 appellate opinions per year (that is, including both federal and state courts); this number does not include other cases that were not appealed, or were settled or otherwise abandoned before trial. Estimates of total American deaths attributable to asbestos range from 200,000 to 265,000 (according to the March 1991 Report of the Judicial Conference Ad Hoc Committee on Asbestos Litigation). Although deaths have decreased, the number of suits have increased. (One estimate says that, in the 20th century, more than 100 million Americans were exposed to asbestos in the workplace.http://www.actuary.org/pdf/casualty/mono_dec01asbestos.pdf)

Related Topics:
Tort reform - Bankruptcy - RAND - As of 2004

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"Asbestos litigation today is, for the most part, a massively fraudulent enterprise that can rightfully take its place among the pantheon of such great American swindles as the Yazoo land frauds, Credit Mobilier and Teapot Dome," said Lester Brickman, a professor at Cardozo Law School, in a recent speech on the phenomenon.http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cjf_40.htm For example, Baron & Budd, P.C., a renowned Dallas plaintiff's firm, is alleged to have coached clients how to provide winning testimony against asbestos defendants.http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/T?&report=sr118&dbname=cp108 In recent years, there have been many scandals over asbestos litigation because of the number of cases involving plaintiffs who had suffered no injury other than asymptomatic pleural plaques. An investigation into claims filed for alleged silicosis found that 65% of the plaintiffs claiming to be suffering from silicosis had previously recovered from asbestos defendants by alleging that they had asbestosis.http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112129552607885138,00-search.html?KEYWORDS=lawsuit&COLLECTION=wsjie/archive Many attorneys, including Peter Angelos, have become rich because they established lucrative relationships with unions that steered potential asbestos plaintiffs to their law firms.http://www.motherjones.com/news/special_reports/mojo_400/7_angelos.html

Related Topics:
Yazoo land frauds - Credit Mobilier - Teapot Dome - Lester Brickman - Cardozo Law School - Baron & Budd, P.C. - Dallas - Plaintiff - Silicosis - Asbestosis - Peter Angelos

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Asbestos-related cases were a rare sight on the U.S. Supreme Court docket prior to 1980, but since then, the Court has dealt with asbestos-injury cases in 2002, 1999, 1997, 1995, 1993, and 1986. The 1999 and 1997 cases both involved giant settlement class actions that were designed to stabilize the liability of the largest defendants. Both settlements were ultimately overturned by the Court because they resolved the rights of future claimants who, because they were currently unknown, could not be given the notice that due process requires.

Related Topics:
U.S. Supreme Court - Docket - Class action - Due process

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Texas passed a reform bill requiring neutral medical screening in asbestos claims, and Congress is considering legislation, the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act of 2005, that would establish a $140 billion trust fund to supplant litigation as a means to compensate victims of asbestos. Trial lawyers protest that the trust fund would undercompensate injured workers, while some conservatives argue that the trust fund does not do enough to prevent fraud and would be too "leaky" to prevent future litigation problems.

Related Topics:
Texas - Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act of 2005 - Conservative

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Asbestos liability is a very large issue facing the global insurance industry today, with the industry contending that many are suing because they have been exposed but have not as yet contracted asbestos-related lung diseases, which have latency periods of 10-40 years, and because lawyers spend millions each year advertising to promote such lawsuits.http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1032128833445, http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1032128856491, http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/nj/taylor2002-10-01.htm

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In mid-2004, a huge public outcry across Australia followed revelations at a New South Wales government-sanctioned inquiry into the company James Hardie's handling of its asbestos injury liabilities.

Related Topics:
Australia - New South Wales - James Hardie

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In Brazil, prohibition of extraction and use of asbestos is currently under consideration.

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In Japan too, recently there has been a spurt of lawsuits involving actual or potential damage due to the use of asbestos in schools and public places, following public outcry over asbestos-related deaths.

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See also Asbestos and the law.

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