How to End a Long Legal War
For too long they have been the recipients of little more than sanctimonious hand-wringing. But the tens of thousands of victims of asbestos exposure finally have reason to hope that the end of their long litigation nightmare is in sight. Last week a panel of federal judges ordered consolidation of more than 26,000 federal personal injury cases, transferring them to a single court for negotiation and, perhaps, resolution.
The order, issued by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, temporarily stays most federal asbestos cases that have not reached trial and shifts them from 87 courts around the nation to the Philadelphia courtroom of U.S. District Judge Charles R. Weiner. The ruling gives Weiner broad latitude to coordinate the cases and resolve them through settlement or trial; however, it does not affect state court claims.
Asbestos, used for decades as insulation, can cause a variety of afflictions including cancers; these diseases may cause as many as 200,000 deaths by the year 2000. Asbestos exposure has already produced a seemingly endless tide of litigation. About 60,000 claims have been resolved but more than 130,000 state and federal claims remain.
Since 1977 the MDL panel had five times previously considered transfer of asbestos litigation to a single court. It rejected consolidation before for several reasons, not the least of which was that many lawyers on either side did not see group processing as in their own--as opposed to their clients’--best interest. Last week’s consolidation order suggests the growing resolve and sense of responsibility of some federal jurists to end a 20-year legal war of attrition in which many plaintiffs have been the primary casualties.
The panel’s action comes just months after another federal judicial group concluded that the asbestos situation had reached “critical dimensions and is getting worse” but failed to take meaningful action to relieve the crisis. The MDL order also follows agreement on restructuring the near-bankrupt Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust.
Weiner, the nation’s new asbestos judge, has been praised for keeping the interests of the parties in mind over those of the lawyers. If true, his designation is long overdue and welcome news for thousands of federal asbestos plaintiffs.
