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Kaiser Gypsum, ad hoc group seek official asbestos claimant committee
New York, Oct. 13 – Kaiser Gypsum Co., Inc. and an ad hoc committee requested that the ad hoc committee be named as an official committee of asbestos personal injury claimants in the company’s Chapter 11 case.
The committee, formed in January 2016, is made up of law firms from various locations, according to a filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of North Carolina.
Subsequently the committee retained Caplin & Drysdale, Chartered as bankruptcy counsel, Gilbert LLP as insurance counsel, Charter Oak as financial adviser and Legal Analysis Systems as asbestos estimation consultant.
The company and the committee have communicated on “numerous occasions,” according to the filing.
Kaiser Gypsum wishes to have the committee given official status so that the discussions over a plan of reorganization can continue and that the work already performed is not wasted.
The company noted that since 1978 it has been named in more than 38,000 asbestos-related lawsuits and as of Aug. 31 it was defendant in 14,000 pending asbestos-related cases.
Part of the motivation for filing for bankruptcy was to permanently resolve the asbestos liability.
A hearing is scheduled for Oct. 18.
Kaiser Gypsum and the proposed official committee also asked the court to appoint Lawrence Fitzpatrick as the legal representative for future asbestos claimants.
Fitzpatrick has worked in a similar role in several previous large and complex asbestos-related cases, the filing stated.
He will be paid $500 per hour plus expenses.
The motion will also be heard on Oct. 18.
Kaiser Gypsum is an Irving, Texas-based manufacturer of construction and remodeling materials. It filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 30. The Chapter 11 case number is 16-31602.
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