Mark A. Peterson

J.D. (Harvard), Ph.D. (UCLA)

FOUNDER

Dr. Peterson oversees all of LAS, concerning himself with the overall strategies and goals of our organization.

He collaborates heavily with our teams in all phases of analysis, including acquiring and managing data, summarizing data so that the claims process can be understood, estimating claims liability (often by employing epidemiological projection methods), simulating claims payments in forecasting situations, and participating in the development of reports, memos, and briefings.

Outside of LAS, Dr. Peterson has also served as a Senior Research Scientist at RAND, where he focused on policy analysis and research on U.S. civil and criminal justice systems. He was a founding member of RAND’S Institute for Civil Justice (ICJ). He has also spent time as a lawyer in private practice in Los Angeles.

Select highlights of Dr. Peterson’s career include:

SPECIAL MASTER AND EXPERT FOR COURTS:

  • Special Advisor to Judge Jack B. Weinstein, U.S. District Courts for Eastern and Southern Districts of New York and Judge Burton Lifland, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Southern District of New York, to restructure the insolvent Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust. Worked as Courts’ special master and technical consultant in the Findley v. Falise, mandatory, limited fund class action (1990-1995).

  • Neutral expert for Judge Robert Parker, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas. Worked as the Court’s expert in Jenkins v. Raymark class action to collect and evaluate empirical data about asbestos injury claims (1984-1985).

  • Neutral expert for Judge Thomas Lambros, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio. Work as an expert in Ohio Asbestos Litigation Plan, (1) to develop an expert system for valuing asbestos claims based on interviews with plaintiffs and defense lawyers and insurance claims persons, and (2) collected and evaluated data about pending and resolved asbestos injury claims to identify resolved claims that could be used as precedents for settling pending claims. (1983-1988, Expert system was done as research within RAND’s ICJ.)

  • Neutral expert for Judge Robert Merhige, U.S. District Court for Eastern District of Virginia. Work as an expert in Bankruptcy of A. H. Robins Company, Inc. to develop an “expert system” of medical and claims issues for evaluating Dalkon Shield claims, to oversee development of claims databases, and to conduct statistical analyses to evaluate Dalkon Shield claims.

  • Testified before U.S. Senate Committee on Judiciary on asbestos liabilities and proposed legislation on three occasions: June 2003, November 2005, and February 2006.

TRUSTEE OF ASBESTOS TRUSTS:

Dr. Peterson is a Trustee of two asbestos trusts, the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust (2007-present) and the Fuller-Austin Settlement Trust (1998-present). He is a Director of the Claims Resolution Management Corporation, which administers claims for Manville, H. K. Porter and other trusts (2007-present) and of Trust Services Inc., which administers claims for National Gypsum, Fuller-Austin, and six other trusts (1998-present).

TRUSTEE OF ASBESTOS TRUSTS:

Dr. Peterson is a Trustee of two asbestos trusts, the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust (2007-present) and the Fuller-Austin Settlement Trust (1998-present). He is a Director of the Claims Resolution Management Corporation, which administers claims for Manville, H. K. Porter and other trusts (2007-present) and of Trust Services Inc., which administers claims for National Gypsum, Fuller-Austin, and six other trusts (1998-present).

EXPERT TO ASBESTOS TRUSTS AND BANKRUPTCIES REGARDING CLAIMS, PROCEDURES AND LIABILITY ESTIMATION:

  • Western Asbestos Trust (MacArthur) (Expert for Asbestos Claimants Committee) (2005-present)

  • Porter Hayden Trust (2006-present)

  • Combustion Engineering Trust (2006-present)

  • C. E. Thurston Trust (2007-present)

  • J. T. Thorpe (Texas) Trust (2007-present)

  • ARTRA Trust (2007-present)

  • Utex Trust (2007-present)

  • API Trust (Expert for Future Claimants Representative) (2008-present)

  • Babcock and Wilcox Trust (expert for Asbestos Claimants Committee) (2009-present)

  • Owens Corning / Fibreboard Trust (expert for Asbestos Claimants Committee) (2009-present)

  • US Gypsum Trust (expert for Asbestos Claimants Committee) (2009-present)

  • Manville Trust (1987-1988)

  • UNR Asbestos Disease Claimants Trust (1992-2002)

  • National Gypsum Trust (1994-present)

  • Fibreboard Interim Trust (1994-1997)

  • Eagle-Picher Asbestos Trust (1995-present)

  • Celotex and Carey Canada Trust (expert for Future Claimants Representative) (1996-2002)

  • H. K. Porter Trust (1996-present)

  • Fuller-Austin Settlement Trust (1998-present)

  • Keene Asbestos Claimants Trust (2000-2002)

  • Raytech Trust (2000-2004)

  • E. J. Bartels Trust (2000-2005)

  • Wallace and Gale Trust (2002-present)

  • Shook and Fletcher Trust (2004-present)

  • Burns and Roe Trust (2009-present)

  • DII Trust (2009)

  • DII Trust (expert for Asbestos Claimants Committee (2012-present)

  • ASARCO Trust (2010-present)

  • Flintkote Trust (2012-present)

  • MLC Trust (expert for Asbestos Claimants Committee) (2012-present)

  • Leslie Trust (2013-present)

  • A.P. Green Trust (2013-present)

  • United Gilsonite Laboratories Trust (expert for Asbestos Claimants Committee) (2018-present)

  • GST Settlement Facility Trust (expert for Asbestos Claimants Committee) (2018-present)

  • George V. Hamilton Inc. Trust (expert for Asbestos Claimants Committee) (2018-present)

EXPERT ON ASBESTOS CLAIMS AND LIABILITY FORECASTS IN BANKRUPTCIES:

  • National Gypsum Corporation

  • Asbestos Claims Management Company (ACMC)

  • Hillsborough Holdings Corporation

  • Eagle-Picher Industries, Inc.

  • Celotex and Carey Canada

  • Raytech Corporation

  • Raymark Corporation

  • Wallace and Gale Corporation

  • The Babcock and Wilcox Company et. al.

  • Owens Corning and Fibreboard

  • Armstrong World Industries

  • Federal Mogul

  • API Inc.

  • C. E. Thurston, Inc.

  • Plibrico

  • Western Asbestos

  • J. T. Thorpe

  • Oglebay Norton

  • SPHC (Bondex)

  • Garlock

  • A.P. Green

  • ACandS

  • ARTRA

  • ASARCO

  • Bestwalll LLC

  • Burns and Roe

  • Congoleum

  • DBMP LLC

  • E. J. Bartels, Inc.

  • Flintkote

  • Fuller-Austin Insulation Company

EXPERT IN OTHER BANKRUPTCY CASES:

  • G-I (GAF)

  • H. K. Porter Company, Inc.

  • Hercules

  • Imerys Tale America, Inc.

  • Kaiser Gypsum Company, Inc.

  • Keene Corporation

  • Leslie Controls

  • Lloyd Mitchell

  • Narco

  • ON Marine Services Company LLC

  • Paddock Enterprises, LLC

  • Pittsburgh Corning Corporation

  • Plant

  • Porter Hayden

  • Quigley

  • Shook and Fletcher

  • Skinner Engine

  • THAN

  • Thorpe Insulation

  • U. S. Gypsum (USG)

  • W. R. Grace