In such cases, plaintiff lawyers typically swamp a company with claims, then negotiate a settlement that steers most of the bankruptcy proceeds to themselves at the expense of other creditors, including futureasbestos victims.
It was the same sort of conflict that led the Supreme Court to reject asbestos settlements in the Amchem and Ortiz cases: Lawyers tried to negotiate deals that benefited their clients at the expense of futureasbestos claimants.
The judge said that contractors, staff and shoppers "have a right to be anxious as to whether they have breathed asbestos fibre and what effect that might have on their well-being and future".