But architects and developers in India do receive direct mailing emphasising the advantages of asbestos products.

BBC: News Online

And plaintiffs' lawyers have become more imaginative, going after not only producers of asbestos products, but also firms that merely used asbestos, says Kenneth Bradley, editor of Asbestos Litigation Reporter.

ECONOMIST: Asbestos claims

And it might just work, if BP can avoid getting dragged into a morass of tangential health claims like the ones that sank just about every company that manufactured or installed asbestos products as a main line of business.

FORBES: Asbestos Is A Good Lesson For BP -- To Avoid

This producer of fiberglass and other building products was sent into bankruptcy by asbestos lawyers.

FORBES: Blink And You'll Miss It

Schmidheiny inherited Eternit, which manufactured a line of construction products that had begun in 1903 with asbestos-reinforced cement, at age 37.

FORBES: Swiss Billionaire Sentenced To 16 Years In Asbestos Case

That's what happened in mass-tort settlements involving asbestos, Vioxx, fen-phen and other products, where lawyers cleverly bundled hundreds or even thousands of claims that might not stand a good chance in court with a few that threatened blockbuster verdicts.

FORBES: Magazine Article

One common example: A plaintiff sues manufacturers of asbestos-containing brake pads without disclosing that he has already collected tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars from trusts representing bankrupt producers of construction products on the theory that he was exposed to asbestos on construction sites.

FORBES: Magazine Article

In a hearing scheduled for mid-January, Bernick will try to persuade a Delaware bankruptcy judge to value as worthless tens of thousands of claims stemming from lawsuits against Grace, which used asbestos in spray-on fireproofing and Zonolite insulation and other fireproofing products.

FORBES: Magazine Article

In other large product-liability cases, such as cigarettes or asbestos, there seems to be a well-established link between the products and a specific disease, such as asbestosis or lung cancer.

ECONOMIST: Product liability: Of cigarettes and silicone | The