Meet the new asbestos–or maybe it's just the same as the old asbestos. That's the sentiment expressed by experts on the question of what mass tort issue will be the next to fuel class action lawsuits that property-casualty insurers could find themselves on the hook to cover.

Defendants have scored some major judicial wins in asbestos cases and there have been some favorable law changes in a number of states, but at the same time, they see a trial bar looking for new alternatives to get asbestos claims into court.

On the plus side, Romy Comiter, a senior manager in the London office of Smart Business and Advisory Consulting LLC, noted “significant changes in the landscape of how these claims are filed and handled.” Among the major factors driving change, she noted, have been tort reforms passed in states like Mississippi and Texas, as well as other places that have sought to require claimants to meet some form of medical criteria.