The Need for Asbestos Reform

Hundreds of thousands of asbestos claims are clogging state and federal courts across the country, and thousands of new claims are being filed every year. Total corporate asbestos liability to U.S. plaintiffs is expected to reach or exceed $250 billion. Thousands of companies have been named as defendants in asbestos cases, and dozens of companies have filed for bankruptcy because of asbestos litigation liabilities.

But the asbestos litigation crisis isn't just a problem for business. Victims of asbestos-related diseases also are paying a price. They are being under-compensated because many of the more recent asbestos cases include plaintiffs who show no symptoms from exposure to asbestos. Those claimants are taking part of the compensation that should go to the real victims of asbestos.

Two cases are illustrative:

• A Mississippi jury in October 2001 awarded six plaintiffs $150 million, though none of them claimed to have incurred medical expenses or lost so much as a day of work because of asbestos exposure. (Johnson v. ACS Manufacturing Inc.)
  
  
• Six retired railroad workers were awarded by a West Virginia jury $5.8 million in emotional distress damages based on the workers' fear of developing cancer from asbestos exposure. (Norfolk & Western Railway Company v. Freeman Ayers, et. al.)

Even trial lawyers for the victims of asbestos-related diseases have called for reform. And the problem has been recognized by the U.S. Supreme, which struck down asbestos class action cases in 1997 and 1999 as "too large and diverse to be represented in a single action." Wrote Justice David Souter, "The elephantine mass of asbestos cases ... defies customary judicial administration and calls for national legislation."

The U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform is working to unify the business community in support of federal legislation to deal with the asbestos litigation crisis. Among its efforts, ILR:

• Released a National Economic Research Associates study on the secondary impacts of asbestos litigation on workers of bankrupt firms and local communities.
  
  
• Supports the filing of amicus briefs and third-party litigation in precedent-setting asbestos cases. Funded the Chamber's U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief in Norfolk & Western Railway Company v. Freeman Ayers, et. al.
  
  
• Sponsors the National Asbestos Defense Resource Center, which seeks to improve the defense of asbestos suits by fostering and institutionalizing strategic thinking, innovation, cooperation and best practices.
  
  
• Educates judges, lawmakers, thought leaders and the public about the asbestos litigation crisis through a variety of communications vehicles.