'Peripheral' Defendants Forming Pre-emptive Coalition
to Ease Asbestos Burden

icCendicoalitions formed to precipitate change in the asbestos litigation system or support congressional action on either a state or federal level are beginning to pop up all over the country.

Over the past several years, groups have emerged whose members include sick claimants, insurance companies, manufacturers - solvent and bankrupt. And now, as some say the number of defendants in the litigation is expanding, the so-called peripheral defendants have joined forces to form coalitions in an attempt to keep from becoming the next casualty of asbestos litigation.

photo-25That is among the …