Lloyd Dixon

This report describes the creation, organization, governance, and operation of asbestos personal-injury trusts and compiles publicly available information on the assets, outlays, claim-approval criteria, and governing boards of the 26 largest trusts. The authors find that important data are incomplete, often shallow, and inconsistent.

The Western Riverside County Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan mitigates development effects on 146 plant and animal species by establishing a 500,000-acre conservation reserve. This monograph examines land-acquisition strategies and costs, revenue adequacy and potential new funding sources, the plan's habitat-conservation goals, and whether the plan has streamlined transportation and development permitting processes.

Social inflation is a term that has been used to describe social and behavioral trends that are said to expand the liability of parties allegedly responsible for harms and their insurers. In this report, the authors look for trends in litigation rates, trial awards, and insurance claim payments that are consistent with the expected effects of social inflation to determine whether there is evidence that social inflation is occurring.

Based on the premise that investing in hazard risk mitigation will reduce spending on recovery and response, the federal Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program recognizes that equity issues are important in helping communities? mitigation efforts. Researchers identified ways to address these issues while enhancing the accuracy of natural hazard assessment in future BRIC grant decisionmaking, as described in this report.

This report reviews various alternatives to relying exclusively on traditional civil litigation to assign responsibility for the human causes of a catastrophe and to determine the types of losses that a designated responsible party must reimburse. It also reviews examples of circumstances in which statutory substitutes for the traditional tort system have been adopted for dealing with at least some of the consequences of widespread harm.

Given the closures and other restrictions on business activity during the COVID-19 pandemic, stakeholders have developed proposals for an insurance-based program to provide businesses with resources to maintain payroll and benefits and cover ongoing operating expenses. This report describes the distinguishing features of the most-visible proposals and develops a quantitative model that projects their potential consequences.

Researchers worked to improve the understanding of state and local financial risk management practices and the role that the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Public Assistance program plays in them. They also examined several approaches for state and local governments to increase insurance coverage and the trade-offs associated with those approaches. This report documents the authors' methods, findings, and recommendations.

Puerto Rico's housing sector was hit hard by Hurricanes Irma and Maria and needs a big fix. In this detailed and comprehensive analysis of the housing damage caused by the 2017 hurricanes, the authors make informed recovery recommendations for policymakers so they can repair and rebuild safe and affordable housing in Puerto Rico and create a modernized housing infrastructure that is more resilient to future natural hazards and code-compliant.

The authors describe illustrative instances of human-made disasters in which the potentially responsible party (PRP) offered early assistance to the affected community. The authors also explore the benefits and drawbacks of such assistance in stakeholders' eyes and examine potential approaches that policymakers might want to take in encouraging PRPs to provide early assistance.

This report investigates whether bankruptcy reduces the likelihood that exposure to the asbestos-containing products of bankrupt parties will be identified in interrogatories and depositions. It also presents plaintiff and defense perspectives on whether the findings are a cause for concern and what, if anything, should be done in response.

Flood insurance payments can help households and businesses recover from an event and get the economy moving again. Premiums can also provide appropriate incentives to avoid or mitigate risk. This report examines dimensions of the changing flood insurance environment in New York City and explores the consequences for the city s residents and businesses."

Since partial rate deregulation in 1995, the California workers' compensation insurance market has seen dramatic swings in underwriting profits and the share of coverage written by private carriers. Many insurers have failed. This book considers why and looks at the regulatory system and its response, then makes recommendations to reduce market volatility and the frequency of insolvencies while realizing the benefits of a competitive market.

This report reviews the court proceedings that led to the uncovering of abusive diagnostic practices in silica litigation, then identifies several areas in which changes in litigation practices and procedures could increase the likelihood that similar diagnosing practices would be uncovered in the future or prevented from occurring in the first place.

What are the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act's effects on the market for terrorism insurance? What would be the effect of enhancing provisions for nuclear, biological, chemical, and radiological (NBCR) attacks? The authors conclude that the program yields positive outcomes in a number of dimensions for conventional attacks and identify specific reforms that can improve results for NBCR attacks.

Public and private institutions in the United States have long been home to a variety of art works, antiquities, and ethnological materials. For years, these collections have been seen as important archives that allow present and future generations to enjoy, appreciate, and value the art of all cultures. In the past decade, however, questions have been raised as to exactly what constitutes legal and ethical ownership of art and other cultural property. Some observers believe that art and ethnological materials should remain in source countries, and have lobbied for an end to art trading. Recent changes to U.S. law may curtail both private and public collecting. Contributors to "Who Owns the Past?" include legal scholars, museum professionals, anthropologists, archaeologists, and collectors. In clear, nontechnical language, they provide a comprehensive overview of the development of cultural property law and practices, as well as recent case law affecting the ability of museums and private collectors to own art from other countries.Topics covered include rights to property, ethical ownership, the public responsibilities of museums, threats to art from war and development, and international cooperation to preserve collections in the developing world. Engaging all perspectives on this debate, "Who Owns the Past?" challenges all who care about the arts to work together toward policies that consider traditional American interests in securing cultural resources, and respect international concerns over loss of heritage.

Examines and quantifies the possible effects of extended emission-system warranties on independent repair shop revenues and other impacts from extended warranties To satisfy California's Zero Emission Vehicle Program, auto manufacturers will likely be producing large numbers of partial-zero emission vehicles with extended emission-control system warranties. When the California Air Resources Board adopted the extended-warranty requirement, it was concerned about adverse impacts to the independent vehicle-repair industry because warranty repairs usually must be done at dealer repair shops. This report examines and quantifies the possible effects, out to 2020, of extended vehicle warranties on the independent repair industry.