father of asbestos litigation Legends Scholarship honors

Four decades after the filing of the first modern asbestos lawsuit, Lamar University and the Beaumont Foundation of America have honored the man responsible for engineering the litigation.

A Southeast Texas Legends scholarship was created in honor of Orange attorney Ward Stephenson, who "is credited with inventing asbestos litigation."

The announcement was made Oct. 2 by Lamar President Jimmy Simmons at the University Reception Center of the Mary and John Gray Library.

The Southeast Texas Legends scholarships, each an endowment of $100,000, are made possible by a gift of from the Beaumont Foundation, a non-profit corporation "that grew out of the historic $2.1 billion settlement of a nationwide … defective computer class-action suit …," according to a LU press release.

The interest accumulated from the endowment will go towards aiding students in need of financial assistance.

During the announcement, Simmons said LU was "delighted" to add Stephenson's name to their Legends roster, calling the attorney "a crusader against corporations."

"He (Stephenson) has been called innovate, creative and ahead of his time … and is largely credited with inventing asbestos litigation," Simmons said.

In 1966, Stephenson filed his lawsuit in Southeast Texas on behalf of asbestos insulation worker Claude Tomplait -- subsequently spawning a multi-billion dollar industry.

The suit faulted 11 manufacturers, including Johns-Manville and Owens Corning, for inflicting his client with asbestosis, or chronic inflammation of the lungs.

Only 20 years after Stephenson filed his suit, asbestos litigation had expanded into a billion-dollar industry, according to the Manhattan Institute.

More than 200 companies had been sued, most notably, manufacturer Johns-Manville, which filed for bankruptcy protection in 1982 despite its ranking in the top 200 American companies by Fortune magazine in 1981.

Stephenson lost Tomplait's case on appeal, but, "undeterred" soon filed a second case on behalf of Clarence Borel, an asbestos insulation installer who had been diagnosed with mesothelioma, the press release states.

Stephenson won the initial case, Borel vs. Fiberboard, and the verdict was upheld by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1973, "opening a floodgate of litigation because it (the decision) allowed employees to sue their employers for product liability," the press release states.

"Borel vs. Fiberboard is one of the most significant legal decisions of the millennium," Simmons said, adding that the Stephenson felt he had to expose the companies whom he thought were purposely concealing the dangers of asbestos.

The Efficient Delaware Court System Attracts Business

Your editorial "Biden & Partners" (Oct. 1) states that "Mr. Biden has been helping the tort bar turn his home state of Delaware into a statewide Madison County." Wrong: Delaware is no Madison County; and neither Sen. Joe Biden nor his son Beau, the Delaware Attorney General, has done anything to harm Delaware's reputation for administering fair and prompt justice. Cases are filed in Delaware because plaintiffs have access to judges who are rated as the best state judges in the country and because the system works fairly for all parties. According to the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, "Delaware ranks first among all fifty states in the fairness of its litigation environment, a position it has held for seven years running." (See U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, 2008 U.S. Chamber of Commerce state liability systems ranking study). The increase in tort cases in Delaware is because Delaware is such an efficient place to litigate, not because the senator or his son has done anything improper.

After the filings of toxic tort cases increased in Delaware, the Delaware Superior Court appointed an impartial and independent committee to investigate the reasons for the filings, how the cases were handled, and whether the increase in toxic tort cases was overwhelming the Delaware courts. That committee released a comprehensive Report earlier this year (See Special Committee on Superior Court Toxic Tort Litigation, Delaware State Bar Association, report and recommendations (May 9, 2008)). The report found that there were no improprieties in connection with the filings or the handling of these toxic tort cases in Delaware. Based upon submissions and testimony from the lawyers and parties, both plaintiffs and defendants feel that they have been treated fairly and that the Delaware courts were handling the cases extremely efficiently. One defendant company wrote the Committee about the Delaware courts' handling of these cases: "[B]ut for this Court's capable management of this influx of cases, the Delaware Court system might have lost its number one ranking for 'Fairness in Litigation Climate for Business in the United States.' "

As Delaware's senior senator, Joe Biden has done much on behalf of the residents of Delaware, but he has had no role in directing cases to Delaware or determining how Delaware judges decide cases. Any inclination for litigants to properly file matters in Delaware is a testament to efficient courtrooms, highly competent counsel, and dedicated and fair judges.

Allen M. Terrell Jr.
President
Delaware State Bar Association
Wilmington, Del.