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U.S. District Judge John Koeltl on March 29, 2006, affirmed a nationwide injunction against thousands of asbestos claims brought against Travelers Indemnity Company and various of its affiliates. The claims against Travelers arose from its insurance relationship with Johns-Manville Corporation, the asbestos manufacturer and distributor that, in 1982, became the first major company to file for bankruptcy due to asbestos-related claims. In 1986 the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York confirmed Johns-Manville’s reorganization plan and entered orders that included provisions that protected the company’s insurers, including Travelers, against Manville-related claims in exchange for settlements those insurers entered into during the bankruptcy proceedings.

In June 2002, Simpson Thacher obtained a temporary restraining order from the Bankruptcy Court halting numerous actions filed by asbestos claimants around the country, including several class actions, since the Johns-Manville bankruptcy reorganization on the grounds that the litigants’ claims against Travelers were founded on knowledge Travelers obtained from its insurance relationship with Johns-Manville and were barred by the Court's prior orders. Under the auspices of former Governor Mario M. Cuomo, who was appointed by the Court as mediator, Travelers entered into a series of settlement agreements to create new funds for asbestos claimants. Those agreements, however, were conditioned on Travelers prevailing in its motion for an order confirming that the thousands of Manville-related asbestos claims pending against it and all future claims are barred by the Bankruptcy Court’s prior orders. On July 6, 2004, after an extensive national notice program, the Bankruptcy Court held a contested evidentiary hearing and subsequently issued a 63-page opinion and order barring the direct actions against Travelers. Multiple parties filed appeals from that order on numerous grounds. Judge Koeltl's 49-page decision adopts almost all of the arguments the firm advanced.

The appeal was spearheaded by Barry Ostrager, Andy Frankel and Rob Pfister. Earlier assistance in the bankruptcy court trial was provided by Mike Kibler, Laura Murphy, Kate Nolan, Kim Hamm and Danielle Goodacre, as well as retired partner Mike Sigal and former associate Ted Hassi.