Mass Tort Bankruptcy

Our MTI Group lawyers have more than 20 years of experience in the mass tort bankruptcy arena. We have represented creditors’ committees, future claims representatives, certified classes, and unofficial committees of claimant representatives in several major mass tort bankruptcy cases, including:

• In re Eagle-Picher Industries, Inc. We represented the asbestos claimants committee in the Eagle-Picher Industries, Inc. bankruptcy, the first case in which a section 524(g) injunction was adopted as part of a plan of reorganization. The plan was contested by a committee of creditors and bondholders, and, in the first contested claims-estimation proceeding conducted in an asbestos mass tort bankruptcy case, KMK lawyers litigated the value of Eagle-Picher’s present and future asbestos liabilities.
• In re G-I Holdings Inc. We represented the court-appointed legal representative of future asbestos claimants, in this matter, which involved claims-estimation litigation over the valuation of the debtor’s asbestos liabilities, alter ego and successor liability litigation with debtor affiliates, avoidance actions against banks and debt holders, and significant fraudulent transfer litigation against the debtor’s major shareholder. Following confirmation of the G-I Holdings plan of reorganization and the creation of the G-I Holdings Asbestos Settlement Trust, KMK was retained as counsel for the future claimants’ representative in his trust-related capacity.
• In re Wallace & Gale Company. We represented a committee of asbestos claimants in the Wallace & Gale bankruptcy. In addition to opposing a plan of reorganization filed by Travelers Insurance Company, we represented asbestos claimants as intervenors in a declaratory judgment action over the debtor’s liability insurance coverage, including a dispute over the completed-operations defense and its application to “non-products” coverage disputes. KMK’s experience with these issues has aided the firm in advising trustees on the management of complex insurance coverage litigation.
• Babcock & Wilcox Company.  KMK represented a group of law firms acting as an unofficial committee in the Babcock & Wilcox Company bankruptcy case filed in the Eastern District of Louisiana.  The claimants represented by our lawyers held more than $50 million in settlement claims.