Law: Megacourtroom

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The scene looked more like a meeting of the U.N. General Assembly than a civil trial, as San Francisco's Nourse Auditorium last week became the largest courtroom in memory. Dozens of lawyers at 28 counsel tables appeared before California Judge Ira Brown at the start of what could be an 18-month megatrial. At issue is who should bear the cost of asbestos-related lawsuits; 25,000 of them have been filed against some 30 companies, mostly by former workers ill with cancer and lung disease associated with breathing in asbestos fibers. In the San Francisco case, five former asbestos manufacturers--the largest being the Manville Corp.--are suing 65 insurance companies, each of which cites various reasons why its policies do not cover the asbestos claims. Manville has already settled with six of its insurers for a sum that suggests the enormous stakes involved: $427 million.

No regular courtroom could hold the 150 lawyers who are expected to be involved in the trial, so the parties agreed to pay for the renovation of an ornate but run-down former high school auditorium. The sprucing up will cost $200,000, plus another $200,000 for a computer system to keep track of the & 50,000 documents that may be introduced as evidence. Millions more, of course, will go toward the lawyers' fees. A dozen asbestos victims protested the high cost outside the courtroom on the trial's first day, although the huge proceeding will not necessarily affect what they are paid. A Rand Corp. study estimates that litigation expenses already consume 63 cents out of every dollar spent in asbestos lawsuits. Said one picket's sign: LAWYERS PLAY WHILE VICTIMS PAY.