Supreme Court Won't Review Virginia Asbestos Trial
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Published December 20, 2002


The US Supreme Court let stand a Virginia court order that consolidated 
about 1,300 asbestos product-liability claims into one trial.  One 
defendant, the privately held firm Hopeman Brothers Inc., appealed, 
arguing that a single mass trial would be unfair  and would violate 
constitutional due process rights.  The high court rejected the appeal 
without comment.

In October, the Supreme Court rejected a similar appeal by companies 
arguing that a massive West Virginia asbestos trial would violate 
fundamental fairness.  The Virginia case involved about 1,300 cases 
against more than 35 defendants initially, including manufacturers, 
suppliers, distributors, independent contractors and insurance carriers.
The claims alleged that workers, from security guards to welders and 
insulators, were exposed to asbestos at Newport News Shipyard and 
Drydock Co.  Among the remaining defendants are:

     (1) Amchem Products Inc.,

     (2) Dow Chemical Co.'s Union Carbide unit,

     (3) Combustion Engineering, a US unit of ABB Ltd.,

     (4) S.B. Decking Inc.,

     (5) Mallickrodt Inc.,

     (6) C.E. Thurston & Sons Inc. and

     (7) Hopeman Brothers, Inc.

A number of groups supported the appeal, including the Chamber of 
Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, the American Tort 
Reform Association, and the Coalition for Asbestos Justice.  "Mass 
aggregations of asbestos claims raise serious constitutional due process
problems," the groups said in a statement, warning that the practice 
will only make the asbestos litigation crisis worse.  They said mass 
consolidations force defendants to settle while inviting more lawsuits.

Asbestos was widely used for fireproofing and insulation until the 
1970s, when scientists concluded that inhaled fibers could be linked to 
cancer and other diseases.  An ever-increasing number of personal injury
lawsuits has cost more than $54 billion in settlements so far and has 
driven around 60 US companies into bankruptcy. In September, the 
Virginia Supreme Court allowed for one trial in Newport News.  The US 
Supreme Court declined to review that order. Hopeman's lawyers argued 
that Virginia had abandoned traditional notions of trial procedure and 
attempted a "quick-fix" to deal with the pending asbestos cases.  They 
said immediate Supreme Court review would be appropriate and necessary,
adding that mass consolidations of liability claims exert strong 
pressure on defendants to settle.


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