ASBESTOS PERSONAL INJURY LITIGATION

The Rand Corporation has reported that asbestos personal injury litigation is the longest-running mass tort litigation in the United States. The number of claims has risen in inverse relationship to the decline in the use of asbestos. Forty-years after the first claims were filed, and long after the major suppliers and manufacturers of asbestos or asbestos containing products declared bankruptcy, the number of claims continues to increase while the American judicial systems, particular various state courts, buckles under the economic strain of seemingly endless lawsuits. Meanwhile, lawyers and experts on both sides of the litigation get rich. Those servicing the litigation, such as court reports, copy services, and investigators have also faired well.

We will examine how this perfect storm occurred, how it sustains itself, and how long it will last.