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In the first six months of 2005 alone, more than 25 lobbying firms reported fees of more than $8 million for working on the asbestos legislation, according to Political Money Line, a nonpartisan research group that studies reports filed with Congress by lobbyists and their clients.

The largest chunk, $4.7 million, went to the Washington law firm of Swidler Berlin from the Asbestos Study Group, an organization of companies advancing the legislation. All told, Swidler has received more than $23 million representing the Asbestos Study Group. Its team is led by Thurgood Marshall Jr., a former White House official in the Clinton administration and Brian Fitzgerald, a former counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The other lobbyists listed in the most recent disclosure filings represent an array of makers and users of asbestos, insurers, trial lawyers and venture funds, which are placing bets on the winners and losers of the legislative battle.

The legislation has been opposed by a significant group of small and large companies, including Exxon Mobil, the American International Group, Allstate and BorgWarner, as well as labor unions and trial lawyers. A group of companies opposed to the legislation, known as the Coalition for Asbestos Reform, has a budget of another $3 million not mentioned in the earlier disclosure reports, according to an internal memo of the group that was made public on Tuesday by The Hill, a newspaper that covers Congress.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/08/politics/08asbestos.html