Legislature 2008: Asbestos Lawsuits

The business and insurance lobbies plan to resume their push next year for restrictions on lawsuits that seek damages for alleged exposure to asbestos and silica dust.

The West Virginia Chamber of Commerce has outlined its stance on the issue as it presents its policy positions in advance of the 2008 regular session.

Advocates for this stance also made their case Monday to lawmakers meeting for their monthly interim session. But as The Register-Herald of Beckley reports, lawyers who file such lawsuits on behalf of claimants were also on hand.

Bill Schwartz of the West Virginia Association for Justice, a trial lawyer group, "disputed the business community’s claim of a 'litigation explosion' in asbestos lawsuits, noting 123 were filed in 2005 in West Virginia, another 103 last year, and 27 to date this year."