Documents in 12 major asbestos-related bankruptcies could be unsealed for the first time next month in a novel bid by a manufacturer to bolster its defense against a barrage of claims that its products caused deadly cancer and mesothelioma, Reuters reported yesterday. Garlock Sealing Technologies LLC won access to lists of clients of plaintiffs' attorneys after a federal judge in Delaware on March 1 reversed a bankruptcy court judge who kept the documents from the public. The bankruptcies include Pittsburgh Corning Corp., W.R. Grace & Co., Kaiser Aluminum Corp. and nine others. Law firms that opposed opening the records called the volume of material "staggering" and "of almost unprecedented scope." The order by Delaware District Court Judge Leonard Stark comes amid a push in Congress and state legislatures for greater transparency in the multibillion-dollar world of asbestos litigation, which critics say carries great potential for fraud. Garlock filed for bankruptcy in 2010 under a mounting number of lawsuits claiming the asbestos in its sealants caused deadly cancer and other diseases. It is currently trying to estimate the size of its asbestos liability, which will likely lead to the creation of a trust to pay claimants over the coming years. Garlock hopes the documents from the bankruptcy cases will help to limit the amount of money needed to provide compensation.
To read the bill text of H.R. 982, the "Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency (FACT) Act of 2013,” please click here. To read the prepared testimony from the House Judiciary Committee's March 13 hearing on the bill, please click here.