New Committee Co-chair: Richard Cohen
The committee is pleased to welcome Richard Cohen as a new committee co-chair.
Mr. Cohen is senior vice president & managing director, Legal Services of GCG. A former general counsel and senior executive of several large corporations, he assists GCG in providing legal support and settlement administration services for corporations and law firms. Prior to joining GCG, Mr. Cohen was the chief operating officer at INTEGREX Professional Claims Services, where he led the organization to revenues of $67 million.
Previously, Mr. Cohen was vice president at Lexford Residential Trust and general counsel of Ohio Power and Columbus Southern Companies. His skills as an attorney, combined with over 20 years experience in executive leadership, bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to GCG. Mr. Cohen has a B.S. from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a Juris Doctor from the University of Akron School of Law. He is the president of The American Corporate Counsel Association in Ohio, editor-in-chief of The Electricity Journal, a member of the American and Ohio State Bar Associations, and he has served as the chair of the American Bar Association’s Coordinating Group on Energy Law and the Ohio Electric Utility Legal Committee.
In addition, Mr. Cohen is a member of the Corporate Counsel Advisory Board for The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel and is a prior recipient of the Distinguished Legal Service Award, sponsored by the Corporate Legal Times.
Recent Mass Tort Bankruptcy Cases Help to Define the Outer Limits of Bankruptcy Powers
by David L. Barrack, Fulbright & Jaworski LLP
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals begins its decision in Combustion Engineering Inc., 391 F.3d 190 (3rd Cir. 2004), by noting that the state and federal judiciary have for decades been trying to find a way to cope with the overwhelming volume of asbestos lawsuits and fashion a method to deliver just and efficient resolution of asbestos claims. The court goes on to mention that the Supreme Court denied two efforts to use global settlement class actions to resolve the asbestos avalanche and used both opportunities to call on Congress to enact legislation creating a “national asbestos dispute resolution scheme.” Id. at 200.
Minutes from the 2005 Annual Spring Meeting
The Mass Torts Committee had a brief informational meeting prior to the well-attended educational program it sponsored in Washington. Highlights included:
- The introduction of Rick Cohen from Garden City Group as the new co-chair, replacing Hon. Judith K. Fitzgerald, who is cycling off.
- The announcement that the Mass Torts Committee will hold a members’ meeting during the first ever Mid Atlantic Regional Conference, to be held in Cambridge, Md., from Aug 4–6, 2005. Dates and times will be provided in the near future.
- The request for sensitivity in responding to mail distribution list emails, so that only the sender receives the answer, and not the entire distribution list. The ABI staff will attempt to find a way to facilitate this for committee members.
- The reminder that our email list is available to institute discussions, advise members of upcoming events of interest, etc.
- The request that every member agree to write a short article for the committee’s e-newsletter and to contact Judi Fitzgerald for the guidelines, to edit an article or to participate in planning the programs for the Annual Spring Meeting or Winter Leadership Conference, and to provide the committee co-chairs with any ideas of how to make the committee more meaningful and appealing to all.