May 11th, 2005

It seems that in the world of asbestos litigation the creation and introduction of an asbestos trust fund has been dominating the news for some time. Every time a proposal is put together, problems seem to arise on many levels, and the most recent proposal from Senator Arlen Specter seems to be no different.

The Senator has been working on the proposal for a $140 billion trust fund for compensation claims, which would replace the current court system for the filing of claims for asbestos injuries. Other officials have also worked on various versions of the bill over the past year, but have hit problems each time.

Some of the clauses that Specter included in his proposal – namely the one that stated that in certain circumstances cases could still go through the courts – have already upset insurance companies and businesses that were expecting their contribution to the fund to give them immunity from further litigation.

It now seems that the proposal has hit another problem with Judiciary Committee members. Specter had been hoping that the bill would be approved without problem, but the committee has only approved 18 of 82 amendments to the bill. It will now be May 12th before any further action can be taken on the bill.