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Beyond the era of mass recruitment and bankruptcies: new strategies to evaluate and resolve asbestos claims, Bates White’s Charles Bates advises at Mealey’s Asbestos Conference
WASHINGTON, D.C., February 6, 2007—Charles Bates, Ph.D., President and Senior Partner at Bates White, LLC, will speak at Mealey’s Asbestos Conference: The New Face of Asbestos Litigation in Washington, DC, on February 8–9, 2007. Dr. Bates is participating on a panel that will consider whether the asbestos bankruptcy process is still a viable means of resolving asbestos liability.
Dr. Bates will discuss whether the historical model used for evaluating current and future asbestos liability is still appropriate, and whether, in today’s dramatically changed claiming environment, there are mechanisms outside of the bankruptcy process that might better serve companies and seriously ill claimants.
“Mass recruited” nonmalignant asbestos claims are virtually nil today. But such claims, which totaled 600,000 from 1981–2005 and peaked in 2001/2002, caused a wave of defendant company bankruptcies. Dr. Bates estimates that the cost of this deluge to defendants, insurers, and sick claimants (who were impeded from having their claims paid) could reach $50 billion or more.
Dr. Bates and Partner Charlie Mullin have coauthored a paper that provides background for Dr. Bates’ discussion. “The Bankruptcy Wave of 2000—Companies Sunk by an Ocean of Recruited Asbestos Claims,” appears in the January 24, 2007, issue of Mealey’s Litigation Report: Asbestos.
To view the conference agenda, please visit http://www.lexis-nexis.com/conferences/LegalConference.aspx?cid=41233.
To download “The Bankruptcy Wave of 2000—Companies Sunk by an Ocean of Recruited Asbestos Claims,” please visit http://www.bateswhite.com/news/pdf/Bates_Mealeys_DC.pdf.
About Bates White
Bates White is a national economic consulting firm of more than 150 professionals.
Established in 1999, Bates White offers consulting services in economics,
finance,
and business analytics. Bates White has offices in Washington, D.C., and San
Diego, Calif.
www.bateswhite.com
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