A report, prepared as asbestos litigation was becoming a growing presence on federal dockets, based on an intensive study of ten federal district courts with heavy asbestos caseloads. The author examines both innovative and traditional methods of handling the asbestos caseload in the federal courts. He makes projections as to the expected future caseload and compares asbestos cases with other types of toxic tort litigation. Major topics include assignment systems, standard pretrial procedures, settlement, consolidation and other trial formats, and special burdens on judges and clerks.