During the 1960s, 70s and 80s, J-M faced thousands of individual and class action lawsuits based on asbestos-related injuries such as asbestosis, lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma.

And the company is still a defendant in tens of thousands of asbestos-related personal injury and property damage lawsuits.

Since it can be 30 years after exposure before asbestos-related injuries develop, it is impossible to know exactly how many claims there will be.

The now defunct law limited the amount and types of people allowed to sue for asbestos-related injuries.

On June 20, 2002, Dr. Harron diagnosed 424 cases of asbestos-related injuries in a single day.

The Manville Corporation trust set up to pay claims for asbestos-related injuries said a cash shortfall was caused by the design of the company's reorganization plan, not by poor management.

People who have not yet filed claims against Honeywell or Halliburton for asbestos-related injuries would be compensated out of trusts that each company would establish, he said.

The law firms would file the report with a claim seeking compensation for asbestos-related injury.

The Manville Corporation, for instance, thought bankruptcy was the quickest way to fix the mounting legal problems it faced from asbestos-related injuries.

In a somewhat similar situation, the Manville Corporation, facing a projected 90,000 claims for asbestos-related injuries, gave third parties some protection but not blanket indemnification, lawyers said.