Sub-series 3: Estimation Hearing and Disclosure Statement

Scope and content:

From November 5 to 11, 1987, Judges Merhige and Shelley held hearings at which the various interested parties presented their estimates of the dollar value of the outstanding claims. Each party had hired experts to examine the data McGovern had compiled, and the work of these experts was presented at the hearing. Thomas Florence conducted the analysis and prepared the estimation for AHR. Other estimates were presented on behalf of the claimants' committee, Aetna, the official committee representing AHR shareholders, and the unsecured creditors. One month later Judge Merhige, having reviewed the estimates which ranged from $1.2 to 7.2 billion, announced that AHR's liability to claimants was $2.475 billion.

On February 1, 1988, American Home Products agreed to acquire AHR, and on March 28, 1988 Robins filed its Sixth Amended and Restated Disclosure Statement Pursuant to Section 1125 of the Bankruptcy Code. This document begins with a summary of the case and a detailed overview of the settlement, followed by the Plan of Reorganization, the Claimants Trust and Other Claimants Trust Agreements, the Claims Resolution Facility, the Merger Agreement, and other documents. Along with letters of endorsement, relevant court orders and notices, and a ballot, the Disclosure Statement was mailed to all eligible claimants to vote on approval of the plan in late April 1988.

This sub-series of 4 boxes and 1 carton (2.9 linear feet) contains the transcript of the hearing, Thomas Florence's estimation report, AHR memoranda on statute of limitations filed with the court at the time of estimation, and a copy of the disclosure statement with accompanying letters of endorsement, court orders and notices.

Access and use

Location of collection:
University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept.
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
University of Virginia
P.O. Box 400110
170 McCormick Rd
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4110
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Special Collections Public Services & Reference Staff
Phone: (434) 243-1776
Fax: (434) 924-4968
Parent restrictions:

The Dalkon Shield Claimants Trust Collection was transferred to the University of Virginia Law Library by order of the US Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in September 2000. Under that order, Series I through V are open for research with no restrictions. The Court imposed the following access restrictions for the materials in Series VI (the Trust's Central Records Library and Outside Counsel Files):

"5.01 Preservation of Claimants' Privacy. No Identifying Information, or any document or record within the Trust Materials containing Identifying information, relating to any Personal Injury Claimant --- or Other Claimant --- may be disclosed at any time, without written consent of the relevant Personal Injury Claimant or Other Claimant, or an Order by the Court allowing such disclosure."

The Court defined "Identifying Information" as the following:

"Identifying Information" means a person or entity's name, address, telephone number, facsimile number, email address, and any unique identifier including but not limited to a social security number, tax identification number, passport number, and military identification number."

Requests for material in Series VI should be made in advance to allow Special Collections staff time to determine whether it contains identifying information, and to allow for the redaction of such information before permitting access. Copying documents in Series VI may be restricted, and advance consideration of such requests is required.

Parent terms of access:

Multiple individuals and corporate bodies created the materials in the Dalkon Shield Claimants Trust collection and copyright status varies across the collection.

Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by the Dalkon Shield Claimants Trust (DSCT) were transferred to the University of Virginia in 2000 by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division. Permission to publish or reproduce materials created by the DSCT must be secured from the University of Virginia.

Other materials may be protected by copyright and/or related rights. The University of Virginia is not authorized to grant permission to publish or reproduce these items.

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