Series II: A.H. Robins Litigation Documents
Scope and Contents
During the multi-district litigation proceedings from the late 1970s through the early 1980s, many employees of AHR were deposed, and their depositions made accessible to plaintiffs' lawyers all over the country. When the Trust set up the document depository for the use of claimants, the MDL depositions were included. In addition, depositions not under the aegis of the MDL panel, as well as a great deal of trial testimony of A. H. Robins employees, became part of the document depository. The Trust legal department also had a core collection of depositions, exhibits, etc. for their own attorneys' use in litigation. Materials in this series are principally on microfilm or videotape.
Dates
- Creation: 1938 - 2000
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1970 - 1998
Access
The Dalkon Shield Claimants Trust Collection was transferred to the University of Virginia Law Library by order of the U. S. 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.
Extent
From the Collection: 327.5 Linear Feet (408 boxes and cartons, 3 volumes, 271 videotapes, 416 three ring notebooks)
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Repository Details
Part of the Arthur J. Morris Law Library Special Collections Repository
Arthur J. Morris Law Library
580 Massie Road
University of Virginia
Charlottesville Virginia 22903 United States
archives@law.virginia.edu