It was once hailed as a miracle product; it is now the curse of corporate America. The very word ‘asbestos’ has been sending shudders through the ranks of US corporate counsel for the past few years. It is believed that asbestos-related claims have inflicted more damage on US industry than 11 September, Enron, WorldCom and Hurricane Andrew combined.
And increasingly, in the words of Supreme Court Justice David Souter, “the elephantine mass” of litigation is embroiling European corporations through their subsidiaries in the US.
