Attorneys, Financial Analysts, Judges and Insurers to Meet to Discuss Asbestos Litigation at Conference Hosted by LexisNexis

Attorneys, Financial Analysts, Judges and Insurers to Meet to Discuss Asbestos Litigation at Conference Hosted by LexisNexis

Mealey's Asbestos Bankruptcy Conference to Review Litigation, Economic Impact, Insurance and Legislation

DAYTON, Ohio, Dec. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- With a new wave of companies facing the possibility of bankruptcy because of asbestos litigation and the prospects for federal legislation improving, LexisNexis(R), a leader in legal, news and business information services, is hosting the Mealey's Asbestos Bankruptcy Conference on December 6-7 at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers in New York City.

More than 75 companies are already in bankruptcy due to asbestos litigation, including major manufacturers such as Owens Corning, USG and Armstrong. A number of others, including three major U.S. auto manufacturers, are now at risk of a similar fate because of a recent flood of "unimpaired" claim filings.

"This is one of the biggest issues facing American industry today with significant implications for the overall U.S. economy," said Peter Kelso, senior editor of the LexisNexis Mealey's Publications Asbestos Liability Report, Asbestos Bankruptcy Report, and International Asbestos Liability Report and the founder of the Mealey's Asbestos Bankruptcy Conference. "The absence of federal legislation has forced some states to take action to protect employment and this has created a more complex and confusing litigation landscape. At the same time, there is renewed hope that the next session of Congress will move quickly to stem future job losses that will result from unchecked asbestos litigation."

The Mealey's Asbestos Litigation Conference is the only event of its type, bringing together all of the parties impacted by asbestos litigation, including lawyers, judges, corporations, insurers and financial analysts. Topics at the conference include:

- Update on Current Major Bankruptcies: A review of the latest
developments in high-profile bankruptcy cases, including Combustion
Engineering, Owens Corning, USG, WR Grace, Congoleum and others.

- The Wall Street Perspective on Asbestos Bankruptcy: How is Wall Street
weighing the impact of asbestos litigation on affected companies?

- Judicial Perspectives in Asbestos Bankruptcy: How are judges striking a
balance between new issues and the need to move cases forward?

- Insurance Issues in Asbestos Bankruptcy: Why insurers continue the
fight for standing in asbestos cases.

- Overview of 2004 and Anticipating 2005 on State & Federal Legislation
Front: An overview of legislative action on the state and federal
level, including what has happened in 2004 and what to expect in 2005.



For registration information on the Mealey's Asbestos Bankruptcy Conference, visit http://www.mealeys.com/conferences or call 1-800-MEALEYS.

About LexisNexis

LexisNexis(R) ( http://www.lexisnexis.com/ ) is a leader in comprehensive and authoritative legal, news and business information and tailored applications. A member of Reed Elsevier Group plc (NYSE:ENL)(NYSE:RUK) ( http://www.reedelsevier.com/ ), the company does business in 100 countries with 13,000 employees worldwide. In addition to its flagship Web-based Lexis(R) and Nexis(R) research services, the company includes some of the world's most respected legal publishers such as Martindale-Hubbell, Matthew Bender, Butterworths, Les Editions du Juris-Classeur, Abeledo-Perrot and Orac.


Source: LexisNexis

CONTACT: Media, Randy Dunham of LexisNexis, +1-937-865-8836, or
mrandy.dunham@lexisnexis.com

Web site: http://www.lexis-nexis.com/
http://www.reedelsevier.com/
http://www.mealeys.com/conferences


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