New Approach to Asbestos Suits: In the...

New Approach to Asbestos Suits: In the first step toward consolidating many of the nation’s asbestos cases, a federal judge indicated that he plans to convert the Manville asbestos victims trust into a national fund for cash-strapped defendants. Federal Judge Jack Weinstein said during a hearing in Brooklyn that the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust should be reorganized to handle claims against a group of manufacturers. The firms are running out of money to fight lawsuits filed by those alleging injury from asbestos. There are currently some 90,000 suits clogging federal and state courts.