Asbestos Lawsuit Reform

This bill is to setup a trust for people who suffer from asbestos related diseases.

The measure would restrict asbestos victims from bringing their claims into court and would limit the liability of makers and insurers but force them to make contributions to the fund. It would set up a schedule of payments, based on the severity of the illness, ranging from $25,000 for breathing impairments to as much as $1.1 million for victims of mesothelioma, a lethal cancer of the lungs. Fees for lawyers would be capped at 5 percent of the final award.

Not sure I like this. The companies will make contributions to the fund, but that sounds like not all of the costs will come from the industry. Meaning, if you haven't gotten my drift, is that we the public will be paying for this. Sounds like a bail out to me.

I do think that the lawyer's fee cap is an excellent idea. Consider this bit of information from the article.

A study issued two weeks ago by the Rand Institute for Civil Justice found that more than 730,000 people in the United States filed compensation claims for asbestos-related injuries from the early 1970's through the end of 2002, costing businesses and insurance companies more than $70 billion.

The study also found that the court system had imposed high transactional costs. Asbestos victims received about 42 cents of every dollar spent on asbestos litigation, according to the study. Another 31 cents has gone to defense costs, and 27 cents has gone to plaintiffs' lawyers and other related costs.

I think this means that 58 cents of every dollar goes to some lawyer. That is pretty sickening. I'm going to bet the ABA will be coming out against this bill. You can bet that the lobbyists are working this one.

I don't think that this trust is justified. I don't like the precedence. What industry will next get on the doll to form a trust that eliminates there complete liability. Oh, wait, I seem to recall some airline corporate pension that the government has bailed out.

In a packed and emotional courtroom in Chicago, Judge Eugene Wedoff approved an agreement reached last month between United and the federal government's pension insurer, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which will take over the pensions in exchange for up to $1.5 billion in notes and convertible stock in UAL Corp., United's parent company.

It will save United an estimated $645 million a year and significantly shrink pension payments to retirees. The level of reduction in pension payments is unclear and is likely to vary from person to person.

This is the federal government's pension insurer, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. Wasn't there any money saved for this by the company? Who thought this would be a good idea?

Well, I guess I'll end this entry. I'm having trouble concentrating due to my brilliant landlord having decided to start mowing the lawn at 7:30 PM. He has all day to do this, but seems to like to do it when all the tenants are home on a Friday evening. What a @#$% MORON.