Honeywell International Inc.’s fight with an asbestos bankruptcy trust has shifted into more than a financial dispute as plaintiffs’ lawyers request to seal from public view the names of law firms that filed claims against a Honeywell-backed trust, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Erie, Pa., is scheduled next week to consider whether to bar disclosure of the names of law firms that Honeywell might link to alleged misuse of the compensation system for a Honeywell unit’s asbestos trust. A committee of asbestos plaintiffs’ firms is requesting the secrecy order ahead of a trial on the industrial conglomerate’s allegations of mismanagement against the compensation trust established by former subsidiary North American Refractories Co., bankrupted in 2002 by mass asbestos claims. While the trial is technically between the Narco trust and Honeywell, the company has put the conduct of asbestos law firms at issue, detailing alleged instances in which claimants’ lawyers submitted questionable affidavits to win compensation. The trust allegedly waved through payments for years that weren’t supported by competent and credible evidence of exposure to a Narco product, according to Honeywell’s complaint. Honeywell said in court papers on Thursday that the law firm names should remain public because the conduct of those law firms is relevant to the company’s case.
