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RECORD NUMBER: 7 OF 33

Main Title Asbestos bankruptcy trusts and tort compensation /
Author Dixon, Lloyd S.
Other Authors
Author Title of a Work
McGovern, Geoffrey.
Publisher RAND Corporation,
Year Published 2011
Report Number RAND/MG-1104-ICJ
OCLC Number 742306041
ISBN 9780833058348; 0833058347
Subjects Bankruptcy trustees--United States ; Compensation (Law)--United States ; Toxic torts--United States ; Personal injuries--United States ; Trusts and trustees--United States ; Asbestos--Law and legislation--United States
Internet Access
Description Access URL
http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG1104.html
Holdings
Library Call Number Additional Info Location Last
Modified
Checkout
Status
ELBM  KF1530.R3D594 2011 AWBERC Library/Cincinnati,OH 11/16/2016
Collation xix, 89 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 26 cm
Notes
"RAND Institute for Civil Justice." Includes bibliographical references (pages 85-89).
Contents Notes
Linkages between the trusts and tort cases in six states -- Potential effects that trusts can have on total plaintiff compensation and payments by defendants that remain solvent. Payments by asbestos bankruptcy trusts have played an increasingly important role in compensating asbestos injuries and have become a matter of contention between plaintiff and defense attorneys. At issue is how tort cases take into consideration compensation paid by trusts and the evidence submitted in trust claim forms. This monograph examines how such evidence and compensation are addressed by state laws and considered during court proceedings. It also examines how the establishment of the trusts potentially affects plaintiff compensation from trusts and the tort system combined, payments by defendants that remain solvent, and the compensation available to future, as compared to current, plaintiffs. The authors find that the potential effects of trustsâp0sb9s replacement of once-solvent defendants are very different in states with joint-and-several liability than in states with several liability. In states with joint-and-several liability, total plaintiff compensation should not change. In several-liability states, the replacement of once-solvent defendants by trusts can cause total plaintiff compensation to increase, decrease, or remain unchanged. The findings underscore the importance of information on plaintiff exposure to the products and practices of the bankrupt firms in determining the trustssâp0sb9s effects on plaintiff compensation and on payments by defendants that remain solvent.