No single type of litigation has produced anything close to the payments associated with the asbestos cases. Asbestos coverage represents the largest type of insured loss in the history of the insurance industry. And asbestos liability has produced some of the largest bankruptcies in U.S. history. This seminar will focus on the various ways in which the law and the insurance industry have responded to the harms caused by asbestos, and it examines how asbestos will likely continue to shape the legal landscape for decades to come.
Each week a different topic relating to asbestos will be discussed. A different student (or team of students) will be given the responsibility each week of assisting the professors in researching and assembling the materials for that week and will be asked to provide an outline of the reading and list of discussion questions for the rest of the class. All students (other than the ones responsible for the outline) will be required to submit a 1 - 2 page reaction to the readings each week. At the end of the semester, all students will be required to submit a 10-15 page paper based on the readings and discussions during the term. Grades will be based on class participation - including the weekly papers, the outlines, and the in-class discussion - and the final paper.
The following is a tentative list of possible topics:
Weeks 1 & 2: A study of the epidemiological issues: What are the diseases? How are they caused?
Week 3: The early tort and workers’ compensation cases.
Week 4: The regulatory response: OSHA, etc.
Week 5: The later tort cases: How do asbestos cases work now?
Weeks 6 & 7: The insurance cases: issues of “trigger” and “occurrence” and the build up to the Wellington agreement.
Weeks 8 & 9: The Wellington agreement. Probably Guest Speaker.
Weeks 10 & 11: Bankruptcy issues. Probably Guest Speaker at least one week.
Weeks 12: Early efforts at legislative solution.
Week 13: What lies ahead for remaining (not-yet-bankrupt) sellers, users, and installers, of asbestos - including GM, Chrysler, etc.?
Remaining Weeks: Grand conclusions for tort law and regulatory policy.