Overlawyered letters

Asbestos suits and a family business

My family owns a pipe, valve and fitting distribution company in Pittsburgh, which employs 25 people. This small company has been inundated with asbestos related lawsuits over the years. The most recent suit, which was settled on the day of trial, arose because the plaintiff found an ad in the 1951 Yellow Pages, which included insulation as part of the company's product line. We did not own the company until the mid 1950s, although we retained the name of the orginal company. At last count, we have 30 pending suits against us.

We are not manufacturers and have never sold insulation material. One might ask why the manufacturers are not being sued, but as you know, most of them have had to declare bankruptcy because of the large judgments against them.

A lawyer in Pittsburgh seems to be on a mission to flush out potential plaintiffs. Our company will potentially reach a point at which its coffers are empty. Our insurers have caps on their payouts; we, therefore, may find ourselves in the position of having to settle these cases out of pocket.

At some point, we will have no more money and will have no recourse but to declare bankruptcy and add 25 loyal employees to the ranks of the unemployed.

This problem is affecting many small businesses, primarily in the Northeast and on the Gulf Coast. Although I no longer have a financial interest in the family business, having sold my stock to my brother several years ago, I continue to have a great personal interest in the company that my father essentially built from the ground up. It is clear that something must be done because we, too, are victims of a "crime" we did not commit. -- Susan S. Becraft, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Letters to Overlawyered (occasionally) get results: knowing that reformers in D.C. have been attempting to document the impact of asbestos litigation on small businesses, we passed along Ms. Becraft's note (with her consent) to some staffers at the White House, who proceeded to get in touch for what she reports were "fruitful discussions". Nothing of course has happened yet in Congress -- at last report legislative discussions were stalled -- but the national press has finally begun taking note of some of the unjust and extreme consequences of the asbestos litigation morass, including its effects on smaller defendants. -- W.O.