This continues to put the burden on Congress and state courts to look for solutions, Mr. Behrens said.

The Coalition for Asbestos Justice is comprised of several insurance companies, including ACE-USA, Chubb, CAN, Fireman's Fund, Hartford, Argonaut, General Cologne Re, Liberty Mutual, St. Paul Fire and Marine, and Great American.

The issue in the case?Mobil v. Adkins?involves a decision by a trial court in West Virginia to aggregate thousands of disparate asbestos liability cases into a single action.

Critics of this approach say it is unfair to defendants in that it allows virtually no opportunity for any defendant to contest the individual claims against it.

In a brief filed with the Supreme Court, the Coalition for Asbestos Justice said that the mass aggregation approach is designed to produce settlements with low transaction costs even if it means trampling over the due process rights of defendants.

"Efficiency is promoted over fairness or reason," the Coalition said.

The Coalition joined the defendants in the case in asking the United States Supreme Court to review the procedure, but the high court yesterday declined, without comment, to hear the case.