Panel Discussion:

January 19, 2006

Will the FAIR Act Fix the Asbestos Mess?

The Fairness in Asbestos Injury Recovery (FAIR) Act, S. 852, would establish a $140 billion trust fund to compensate victims of asbestos-related diseases, taking most cases out of the litigation system. Would the establishment of this trust fund solve the threat of unbounded liability for companies that used asbestos, or would it encourage a further multiplication of claims while failing to protect companies from later attacks and overriding state reforms in Texas and Ohio?

Panelists include Lester Brickman, professor of law at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and an expert on the history of asbestos litigation; Patrick M. Hanlon, partner at Goodwin Procter LLP with extensive asbestos litigation experience; and Kevin A. Hassett, resident scholar and director of economic policy studies at AEI. Ted Frank, AEI resident fellow and director of AEI’s Liability Project, will moderate the discussion.

Thursday, January 19, 2005, 2:00–4:00 p.m.

Wohlstetter Conference Center, Twelfth Floor, AEI

1150 Seventeenth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036

Register Here

(American Enterprise Institute) - A recent paper by professors Paul H. Rubin and Joanna M. Shepherd of Emory University School of Law provides striking and counterintuitive evidence that tort reforms at the state level contribute to a decrease in accidental deaths. Rubin and Shepherd found that reforms such as capping non-economic damages, requiring a higher standard of evidence for punitive damages, and reforming product liability law have resulted in a decrease in the prices of safety-improving goods and services, which in turn has led to greater safety.

These findings have profound implications for our tort system: the primary argument for the status quo is the promise of greater safety, but if the current system does not even provide that, its costs must be seriously reassessed.

Listen to AJP's exclusive audio interview with Professors Rubin and Shepherd

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American Enterprise Institute Releases Annual Report

on the AEI-Brookings Judicial Education Program

August 31, 2005 -The American Enterprise Institute recently released its Annual Report on the success of the Judicial Education Program - a program created

 under the umbrella of think tanks AEI and the Brookings Institution.

This Annual Report provides detailed information about the JEP, related programs, and plans and budget for the 2005- 2006 academic year. A full slate of programs is scheduled for 2005-2006—including six separate weeks of the Economics Institute, two Judicial Symposia, and a new initiative in support of Business Courts. There are 750 slots available for judges to attend JEP programs in 2005-2006. 

   Read Report (pdf)

The AEI Liability Project’s mission is to promote a better understanding of the sources, contours, and consequences of the liability crisis; and, to help ensure that political or legal reform energies are neither misspent nor misdirected.

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