从史前时代到美国工业化阶段，石棉从屋瓦、胶砂制品、纺织物和日用品等领域广泛应用到日常生活。到20世纪初，英国医生发现工人暴露与间皮瘤有关；1930年代一些公司开始改进通风、体检、口罩和防护服，而其他公司则否认因果关系。20世纪70年代，联邦监管明显收紧：职业安全与健康管理局（OSHA）设定了接触限值，美国环境保护局（EPA）和消费者产品安全委员会（CPSC）限制会释放空气纤维的产品。到2010年代中期，几乎每年有3,000人被诊断患上间皮瘤，诉讼竞赛随之加剧。许多国家后来全面禁用石棉，但美国政策仍较为有限，仍允许如污水管和屋顶材料等建筑用途。
“德州双步法”成为关键诉讼模板：先把母公司迁往德州，再将石棉责任转入新设附属公司，随后把该附属公司迁往北卡罗来纳并申请第11章破产保护。格雷格·戈登（Greg Gordon）在得克萨斯起草策略后，乔治亚太平洋（Georgia-Pacific）于2017年采用该方案，其40年间已用于石棉诉讼超过29亿美元，并向母公司上缴20亿美元。其附属公司Bestwall承接了64,000起待决诉讼和一个位于哈利山区（Mount Holly）附近的工厂项目，在数小时内在夏洛特申请破产。若获批准，这一机制将数千起个别案件改为破产信托程序，约3/4（四分之三）以上权利人同意后，以集中和解替代单独庭审，同时将公司未来责任确定化。
该模式随后扩散至Saint-Gobain关联的DBMP和特兰技术公司（Trane Technologies）；Trane在申请前约有90,000起石棉索赔，之后又增加数千起。Trane将25亿美元保险与责任一并转入附属实体，曾经每年支付约7000万美元损害赔偿和2500万美元辩护费。寻求索赔的年度广告投入已升至数千万美元，而原告律师可拿到高达40%的赔付，领衔律师时薪可达1000美元。约翰逊与约翰逊（Johnson & Johnson）类似做法在经历20名女性获得21亿美元裁决后失败，且仍有67,000起未了结的索赔。对病患而言，这特别残酷，因为间皮瘤平均生存期不足两年，延误诉讼常意味着患者死亡后才作出赔付决策。
From prehistoric use to US industrial mass adoption, asbestos spread through tiles, cement products, textiles, and household goods. By the early 1900s, British doctors linked worker exposure to mesothelioma; by the 1930s some firms added ventilation, checkups, masks, and coveralls, while others denied causality. In the 1970s, federal oversight tightened: OSHA set exposure limits, while EPA and CPSC restricted products likely to aerosolize fibers. By the mid-2010s, almost 3,000 people were diagnosed with mesothelioma each year, intensifying a lawsuit race. Many countries later banned asbestos outright, but US policy remained narrower and kept it in some construction uses, including sewage pipes and roofing.
The Texas Two-Step became the core litigation model: move the parent to Texas, transfer asbestos liabilities to a newly formed affiliate, then move that affiliate to North Carolina and file Chapter 11. After Greg Gordon drafted the playbook in Texas, Georgia-Pacific adopted it in 2017, after spending more than US$2.9 billion on asbestos lawsuits over 40 years and sending US$2.0 billion to its parent. Its affiliate Bestwall absorbed 64,000 pending lawsuits and a Mount Holly site, then filed for bankruptcy in Charlotte within hours. If approved, this mechanism shifts thousands of individual cases to a bankruptcy trust, where about 3/4 of claimants must consent, replacing separate trials with pooled settlement and making long-tail liabilities more predictable.
The template then spread to Saint-Gobain-linked DBMP and Trane Technologies; Trane had about 90,000 asbestos claims before filing and then thousands more. Trane moved US$2.5 billion in insurance and liabilities into affiliates, while annual pre-bankruptcy costs once were roughly US$70 million in damages plus US$25 million in defense fees. Advertising to find claimants has reached tens of millions per year, and plaintiff teams can earn up to 40% of settlements with lead counsel billing US$1,000 per hour. Johnson & Johnson’s similar attempt failed after a US$2.1 billion verdict for 20 women and still faces 67,000 unresolved claims. For patients, this is especially harsh because mesothelioma median survival is under two years, so delay can mean compensation decisions are made only after death.