Leonard C. Jaques, Michael J. Connor, The Jaques Admiralty Law Firm, Detroit, MI, for Appellants., Elihu Inselbueh, Caplin & Drysdale, New York City, Steven Kazan, Kazen, McClain, Edises, Simon & Abrams, Oakland, CA, for Appellees Ahearn, Dennis, Jeep, Ellison and Mitchell., Joseph F. Rice, Ness, Motley, Loadholt, Richardson & Poole, Charleston, SC, Peter Van Lockwood, Caplin & Drysdale, Chartered, Washington, DC, Joseph B. Cox, Jr., Cox & Cox, Sullivan’s Island, SC, Harry Fred Wartnick, Wartnick, Chuber, Ha-rowitz, Smith & Tigerman, San Francisco, CA, Charles Sanders McNew, Weitz & Luxemberg, New York City, for Appellees Ahearn, Dennis, Jeep and Ellison., Eric D. Green, Boston, MA, for Dennis and Jeep., Bruce L. Ahnfeldt, Napa, CA, for Juanita Drake., Clinton A. Krislov, Krislov & Associates, Chicago, IL, Ronald W. Lupton, Stinson, Lupton & Weiss, Bath, ME, for Roland and Judith Dearborn, Butcher and Long-shore Intervenor., Michael Scott Hertzig, Washington, DC, for Dir., Workers Comp., Frederick M. Baron, Dallas, TX, for Cochran, Beck and Behee., Stephen M. Snyder, Kelly C. Wooster, William R. Irwin, James L. Miller, Bro-beck, Phleger & Harrison, San Francisco, CA, for Fibreboard Corp., Herbert Maurice Wachtell, Meyer G. Koplow, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, New York City, Donald T, Ramsay, David M. Rice, Rodney L. Eshelman, Carroll, Burdick & McDonough, San Francisco, CA, for Continental Cas. Co., Columbia Cas. Co. and CNA Cas Co. of Cal., Billy Glynn Parker, Ireland, Carroll & Kelley, Tyler, TX, for Continental Cas. Co., Paul J. Bschorr, Richard B. Sypher, Dewey Ballantine, New York City, for Pacific Indemnity., Richard L. Josephson, Baker & Botts, Houston, TX, Robert B. Shaw, Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough, L.L.P., Columbia, SC, for Owens-Illinois Inc., Gary A. Bresee, Barger & Wolen, San Francisco, CA, for Penn Mut. Life Ins. Co., Stuart Philip Ross, Ross, Dixon & Mas-back, Washington, DC, for Columbia Cas. Co. and CNA Cas. Co. of California.-, Charles P. Schropp, Schropp, Buell & Elligett, Tampa, FL, for Celotex Corp., Anne W. Bloom, Arthur H. Bryant, Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, Washington, DC, for Trial Lawyers for Public Justice., Jeffrey Robert White, Pamela A. Lia-pakis, Associated Trial Lawyers of America, Washington, DC, for Association of Trial Lawyers of America., James L. Kimble, Craig A. Berrington, David F. Snyder, American Ins. Ass’n, Washington, DC, for American Ins. Ass’n, Amicus Curiae., Scott McCullen Baldwin, Baldwin & Baldwin, Marshall, TX, for Asbestos Victims of America, Amicus Curiae.