Ten Tips for Traversing the Terrain of Asbestos Bankruptcies
Bankruptcy has emerged as a dominant avenue for resolving mass product liability cases and, in particular, asbestos liability cases. Plaintiffs already have filed hundreds of thousands of asbestos claims, with many experts surmising that the peak of asbestos litigation is not yet in sight. Asbestos encompasses a family of naturally occurring fibrous materials that have superior insulation and tensile strength properties. Manufacturers began to exploit the flame-retardant and insulating properties of asbestos in heavy industrial use in the 1940s and incorporated asbestos into as many as 3000 products by the early 1970s, when industrial usage peaked. From automotive applications, such as gaskets and brakes, to home uses, such as roof shingles and attic insulation, the use of asbestos for commercial applications proliferated throughout most of the 20th century and still continues today at a decreased rate. The United States still consumes approximately 16,000 metric tons of asbestos each year.
Case Notes
Highlights of the latest product liability cases from around the country.
Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Under the ADA
Employers face many challenges stemming from the fact that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects alcoholic employees from discrimination, including, in some instances, requiring an employer to provide reasonable accommodations to the employee. The ADA also protects drug addicts, as long as the employee is no longer actively engaged in the use of illegal drugs.
Electronic Records Management: The Legal Problem That Lurks Behind the Scenes
You think your company has a good case. From what you can gather, the allegations that your company stole trade secrets from a rival are completely unfounded. But then you enter discovery. Your opposition requests a whole host of e-mails ' predictable these days. That's when you realize you have a problem. It soon becomes clear that, although the case should have been defendable, it is more financially sound for the company to begin negotiating a settlement. Sound far-fetched? These kind of scenarios are happening more and more with today's proliferation of e-mail and the corresponding lack of corporate electronic records retention policies.
The 'Last Chance Agreement'
How can an employer protect its workplace from the often harmful effects of employee drug and alcohol abuse, avoid accusations that it is discriminating against an employee because of a purported addiction disability, and, at the same time, help an employee who was once a valuable and productive contributor to become so again? The answer may lie in a carefully crafted "Last Chance Agreement."
Managing Litigation with Electronic Discovery and Prevail
In recent years, litigation matters have become even more difficult to manage due to the explosion of electronic data created by today's businesses. In defending our clients, we are often requested by opposing counsel to turn over all relevant data pertaining to a particular issue or issues. These discovery requests can be overwhelming, and often times are very costly for our clients and time-consuming for the litigation team. To help mitigate these costs and expedite the discovery process for our clients, we have turned to Fios' Prevail to help manage these requests.
Practice Tip <B>High-Tech Head Starts on Big Cases: Using Advanced Database Tools</b>
High-tech tools ' such as auto-coding, linguistic pattern matching and Web-based collaboration ' enable lawyers and their fact experts to take charge of large cases right from the opening days of discovery. Construction disputes are among the document-intensive cases where these new tools are being used to change the dynamics of the dispute-resolution process. As a specialist in providing expert testimony in these disputes, I've learned that these new tools permit quick and cost-effective ways to learn and research the facts of a case from among the hundreds of boxes of documents.
