Database Provides Insight Into How Much Asbestos Claims Are Worth
From the Madison County Record
A recently unsealed database showing the awards of hundreds of claimants from bankruptcy trusts and non-trust entities provides a glimpse of the staggering amount of money generated by the business of asbestos.
Madison County asbestos claimants represented by the Simmons firm, for instance, have received on average more than $800,000 apiece, according to the database.
Identified as the “Supplemental Settlement Payment Spreadsheet,” the document provides details from a sample of 850 of 1,000 randomly selected claimants who responded to a questionnaire requested by economic consulting firm Bates White as part of the discovery process for gasket manufacturer Garlock, a company forced into bankruptcy in 2010 by the weight of asbestos claims litigation.
Those 850 claimants from across the country – representing just a sliver of the asbestos claimant universe – have so far been awarded $334,711,143 in the court system and $182,259,276 from the bankruptcy trust system, for a total of $516,970,419.
The database was made public as part of U.S. Bankruptcy Judge George Hodges’ order unsealing evidence in the Garlock Sealing Technologies bankruptcy ongoing in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.
Garlock sought bankruptcy protection to escape increasing settlement awards and jury verdicts which it blamed on plaintiff attorneys who were allegedly withholding evidence of other company culpability.
Hodges agreed, finding that the amount of previous awards and settlements paid by Garlock in the civil justice system were not reliable because plaintiffs’ attorneys had withheld evidence of their clients’ exposure to asbestos-containing products manufactured by other companies in order to maximize recovery against Garlock.
Among other things, the database lists names of claimants, their lawyers, how much they got from bankruptcy trusts and how much they got from “non-trust” entities such as solvent companies.
Of the 850 questionnaires returned per Garlock’s discovery request, 75 of the claimants were or are represented by the Simmons law firm in East Alton.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Madison County Record
A recently unsealed database showing the awards of hundreds of claimants from bankruptcy trusts and non-trust entities provides a glimpse of the staggering amount of money generated by the business of asbestos.
Madison County asbestos claimants represented by the Simmons firm, for instance, have received on average more than $800,000 apiece, according to the database.
Identified as the “Supplemental Settlement Payment Spreadsheet,” the document provides details from a sample of 850 of 1,000 randomly selected claimants who responded to a questionnaire requested by economic consulting firm Bates White as part of the discovery process for gasket manufacturer Garlock, a company forced into bankruptcy in 2010 by the weight of asbestos claims litigation.
Those 850 claimants from across the country – representing just a sliver of the asbestos claimant universe – have so far been awarded $334,711,143 in the court system and $182,259,276 from the bankruptcy trust system, for a total of $516,970,419.
The database was made public as part of U.S. Bankruptcy Judge George Hodges’ order unsealing evidence in the Garlock Sealing Technologies bankruptcy ongoing in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.
Garlock sought bankruptcy protection to escape increasing settlement awards and jury verdicts which it blamed on plaintiff attorneys who were allegedly withholding evidence of other company culpability.
Hodges agreed, finding that the amount of previous awards and settlements paid by Garlock in the civil justice system were not reliable because plaintiffs’ attorneys had withheld evidence of their clients’ exposure to asbestos-containing products manufactured by other companies in order to maximize recovery against Garlock.
Among other things, the database lists names of claimants, their lawyers, how much they got from bankruptcy trusts and how much they got from “non-trust” entities such as solvent companies.
Of the 850 questionnaires returned per Garlock’s discovery request, 75 of the claimants were or are represented by the Simmons law firm in East Alton.
Read more in our daily News Update...