LIABILITY ASSESSMENT

ARPC provides claims valuation and liability assessment services in cases involving personal injury and property damage claims stemming from product and premise liability. We often provide valuation of contingent liabilities that are used for financial reporting or in bankruptcy cases. Our consulting depth includes backgrounds in economics, finance, statistics, epidemiological modeling, technology, and insurance allocation. We have access to data that provide current information regarding claims, settlement values, and filing trends.

At ARPC, we do not employ a one-size-fits-all approach to our engagements. We, instead, review the unique factors that influence each specific matter. Liability may not be a simple calculation of extrapolating historical claims to future dollars. We look at each individual situation and determine the influencing factors such as other bankruptcies, legislative efforts, a company’s change in litigation strategy, and so on.

Our liability assessment work primarily focuses in the following areas:

·        Assisting corporations with calculating contingent liabilities for financial reporting purposes or reserve needs

·        Assisting client due diligence efforts by assessing the potential liabilities of a targeted merger or acquisition candidate

·        Consulting to a bankruptcy trust or interested party to quantify existing and future liabilities

·        Providing expert testimony regarding our work or analysis of opposing expert findings

Some of our representative engagements include:

(1) ARPC has been involved with each of the existing asbestos-related personal injury bankruptcies or trusts (Amatex Asbestos Trust, Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust, Owens Corning Fiberglass, Pittsburgh Corning, WR Grace, Paycor, Fuller-Austin Asbestos Trust, UNR Asbestos-Disease Claims Trust, National Gypsum Settlement Trust, Celotex Asbestos Settlement Trust, Eagle-Picher Personal Injury Settlement Trust, Fibreboard Asbestos Compensation Trust, Federal-Mogul, Western McArthur) to perform assessments of the liabilities facing these trusts and to consult on various other issues including claims management and insurance. We have been retained as expert witnesses by many of these trusts to perform liability forecasts of asbestos claims related to bankruptcy and class action proceedings, including Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust, Eagle-Picher Industries, National Gypsum, Keene, Fuller-Austin, Babcock and Wilcox, Fibreboard, 48 Insulations and Owens Corning Fiberglass.

(2) ARPC performed a series of liability assessments of the pending and likely future personal injury claims involving use of the Dalkon Shield. A preliminary assessment was made for the purpose of clarifying A.H.Robins’ financial statement prior to the company’s filing for bankruptcy. Subsequent assessments were made for the reorganization plan and ARPC was retained as an expert witness for the quantification of liability before the bankruptcy court.

...return to Product Liability, Mass Tort & Environmental Consulting