Asbestos Information Association Executive Committee Minutes on Litigation Files, Expert Witnesses and a Captive Insurer (1977)

Eight pages of minutes of the Executive Committee of the Asbestos Information Association/North America, meeting in Washington on February 10, 1977, signed by its executive director, Robert H. Mereness. Gabrielson reported that "a principal objective" of the Association's special counsel was "to compile and analyze asbestos related litigation cases so that any defense counsel would be appropriately prepared," and that interviews of physicians who might be expert witnesses in third-party litigation were nearly done. He said he did not "foresee any pleasant surprises" from the literature review, but that it would be "an extremely valuable reference tool for defense counsel." Walter Curtner, J-M's manager of insurance, had defined the scope of a captive insurance company study.

What it shows

Thomas Dougherty also reported on a J-M-sponsored meeting in Denver on January 27, attended by about 25 companies, on "a legislative alternative to third party litigation in asbestos disease cases." The proposal would "prohibit third party litigation," cover all occupational asbestos disease including family members of workers, and be funded first by the federal government and then by the asbestos and tobacco industries. The committee also discussed the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's 0.1 fiber recommendation and New Jersey's bill to ban asbestos. The minutes show the industry preparing both its courtroom defense and a plan to end suits by legislation.

In Johns-Manville's index

Johns-Manville's legal department indexed the Motley 1,000 in 1984. Its index describes this document as follows:

AIA Meeting Minutes, 2/10/77 - Executive Committee. Gabrielson says that a principal objective is "to compile and analyze asbestos-related litigation cases so that any defense counsel would be appropriately prepared." Gabrielson also gives an update on the medical research project and says that he does not forsee any pleasant surprises being found as a result of the literature review. Gabrielson notes that increased reference to asbestos and cancer occurs in the literature after 1964. Gabrelson states that he feels that the medical research project will be an extremely valuable reference tool for defense counsel and will add credibility to industry's concerns regarding asbestos-health issues. Gabrielson reports that the interviewing of physicians, who may be candidates as expert witnesses in third party litigation, is nearing completion. Gabrielson reports that Walter Curtner has "written to define the scope of a captive insurance company feasibility study."

Related documents

• Asbestos Information Association Executive Committee Minutes on the Legal-Medical Research Program (1976)
• Asbestos Information Association Minutes on Expert Witnesses and NIOSH's 0.1 Fiber Recommendation, Page 2 (1977)
• Philip E. Enterline to Guy G. Gabrielson, Jr. on Barry Castleman's Request for the Literature Review (1977)

About this copy

This is document 633 of the Motley 1,000, from the set the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust's records facility certified as true copies, pages CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-002170 to CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-002177.