Beware cries of "crisis"!

It wasn't that long ago (two and a half years, to be precise) that one could encounter anguished talk about the "asbestos liability crisis" devastating U.S. based corporations, and the need for a "global settlement" to be developed in committee rooms on Capitol Hill.

The legislative efforts failed, the Fairness in Asbestos Resolution Act has disappeared, and the unmanaged crisis seems rather to have fizzled away.

One of the corporations that had been most exposed to tort liability of "crisis" proportions was auto parts supplier Federal-Mogul, of Southfield, Michigan. F-M entered bankruptcy court protection in 2001 in an effort to resolve its asbestos liabilities. It was a long haul but the company emerged out from under the court's protection two weeks ago, December 27.

The company was exposed to the mass tort claims mostly by inheritance, via certain acquisitions it had made over the years. It also had some operational exposure. Between 1965 and 1981 Federal-Mogul had operated a division called Vellumoid, which had sold a gasket cut from asbestos-containing sheet material. Plaintiffs alleged they had been exposed to the asbestos while removing the gaskets in the process of repairing automobiles.

I don't know the particulars of how these claims have been resolved, but they must have been resolved somehow -- the asbestos claimants committee agreed to the reorganization plan in November.

Complex and protracted litigation isn't by itself a crisis. It is a byproduct of a complex world and the co-existence of a lot of contending interests.

My own guess would be that all the affected interests have been better served by the failure of the Congressional settlement than they would have been by its success.

And yes, I said yesterday that I planned to write something about the proxy fight at CNET today. But, hey, plans change. We'll get to CNET next week. See ya Sunday.