Some defendants have successfully targeted absestos trial lawyers for their shady behavior (a WLF Web Seminar last April highlighted one example), and victims of asbestos litigation abuse had great hopes for a federal racketeering suit railroad firm CSX filed in 2007.

FORBES: Asbestos Lawsuits as Racketeering Scheme?

In March an Ohio court refused to dismiss another suit, giving the go-ahead to more than 15, 000 new asbestos cases there.

FORBES: An Affair to Remember

In this suit, Northern plaintiffs allege they weren't told that when they signed on with local asbestos lawyers, their cases were actually handed off to firms in Texas, Mississippi and North Carolina under agreements that brought the local attorneys only 2.5% to 5% of any contingency fees--typically 40% of a settlement.

FORBES: Asbestos War Between The States