WASHINGTON, D.C.— The U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) today presented Forman, Perry, Watkins, Krutz & Tardy LLP with the 2010 Outstanding Organization Award for its contribution to uncovering fraud and abuse in asbestos and silica litigation.

“Several years ago, lawyers from this firm exposed fraudulent medical evidence from over 20,000 plaintiffs in a large silica products liability class action,” said ILR President Lisa Rickard, citing U.S. District Court Judge Janis Graham Jack’s subsequent opinion that such diagnoses were “driven by neither health nor justice: they were manufactured for money.” 

And earlier this year, Forman lawyers obtained a verdict that found two asbestos plaintiffs’ lawyers had committed fraud by concealing material information about prior claims for some of their plaintiffs, demonstrating that fraud and abuse remain a serious issue in asbestos litigation.

The firm’s continued campaign to expose screening fraud has led to multiple judgements exposing fraud in asbestos cases nationwide.  For example, the firm’s exposure of unreliable medical evidence in Michigan asbestos litigation has resulted in a 66 percent decrease in state court asbestos filings. 

Founding partner Fred Krutz received the award on behalf of Forman at ILR’s 11th Annual Legal Reform Summit, which brought together the nation’s leading legal reform experts to discuss the problems in the civil justice system and solutions to fix them.

ILR seeks to promote civil justice reform through legislative, political, judicial, and educational activities at the national, state, and local levels.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations.

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