The Asbestos Litigation Master Narrative: Building Codes, Engineering Standards, and “Retroactive Inculpation”

Abstract

“Asbestos litigation is a quintessential example of the expansion of the scope of liability by retroactive inculpation”—Lester Brickman, Lawyer Barons (Cambridge University Press, 2011, 154).Sociologist of science Sheila Jasanoff tells us that “A master narrative is a compelling and frequently repeated story about the way the world works that takes hold of our imaginations and shapes the ways in which we perceive reality, as well as our possibilities for collective action.” The asbestos litigation master narrative, versions of which are available on hundreds of plaintiff-firm websites, has been spectacularly successful in generating billions of dollars in revenue for plaintiffs, attorneys, and expert witnesses since 1973.2 As of December 31, 2009, the US District Court E.D. Pa. MDL 875 (Multi-District asbestos Litigation) docket included 42,076 cases “consisting of 2,337,692 individual claims (all diseases).”