The Texas Civil Justice League has released a new report, “A Texas Success Story: Asbestos and Silica Lawsuit Reform.”

Established in 1986, the Texas Civil Justice League is a non-partisan, statewide business coalition committed to legal reform and public policy research. The League makes legislative recommendations in vital issue areas, such as administration of the courts, general business liability, mass torts, and products liability.

The purpose of this special report is to document the current state of asbestos and silica litigation in Texas state courts. Part one provides a brief history of asbestos and silica litigation in the United States and an overview of the legislative efforts in Texas to address abuses in asbestos and silica litigation.  The report then offers a description of asbestos and silica litigation in Texas’s two multidistrict litigation courts handling asbestos and silica cases, and the impact of reform legislation (S.B. 15) on the state MDLs.

The report then turns to recent issues in asbestos litigation, specifically to the science-based evidentiary standards required by the Texas Supreme Court’s decision in Borg-Warner Corp. v. Flores.

Next are the issues relating to asbestos claimant compensation, starting with the role of bankruptcy trusts in compensating asbestos claimants; the bankruptcy trust payment system can provide substantial compensation to asbestos victims, but is a “black box” system that remains hidden from public scrutiny.

Lots of good info, worth a read.