Asbestos bankruptcy trusts and tort compensation
By: Lloyd Dixon, Geoffrey McGovern
Contributors: McGovern, Geoffrey; Institute for Civil Justice (U.S.)
Publisher: RAND Corporation
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Santa Monica, CA
Language: eng
Number of pages: 89
ISBN-13: 9780833058348
Subjects: Personal injuries; Bankruptcy trustees; Asbestos; Compensation (Law); Toxic torts; Law and legislation; Trusts and trustees
Description: Payments by asbestos bankruptcy trusts have played an increasingly important role in compensating asbestos injuries and have become a matter of contention between plaintiff and defense attorneys. At issue is how tort cases take into consideration compensation paid by trusts and the evidence submitted in trust claim forms. This monograph examines how such evidence and compensation are addressed by state laws and considered during court proceedings. It also examines how the establishment of the trusts potentially affects plaintiff compensation from trusts and the tort system combined, payments by defendants that remain solvent, and the compensation available to future, as compared to current, plaintiffs. The authors find that the potential effects of trusts⁰́₉ replacement of once-solvent defendants are very different in states with joint-and-several liability than in states with several liability. In states with joint-and-several liability, total plaintiff compensation should not change. In several-liability states, the replacement of once-solvent defendants by trusts can cause total plaintiff compensation to increase, decrease, or remain unchanged. The findings underscore the importance of information on plaintiff exposure to the products and practices of the bankrupt firms in determining the trusts⁰́₉ effects on plaintiff compensation and on payments by defendants that remain solvent.
Notes: "RAND Institute for Civil Justice."

Includes bibliographical references (p. 85-89)
Table of contents: title: Linkages between the trusts and tort cases in six states; title: Potential effects that trusts can have on total plaintiff compensation and payments by defendants that remain solvent.