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(Reuters) - Retired U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Cornelius Blackshear, who was involved in notable Chapter 11 cases from Pan Am to Johns Manville, died on June 10 following a stroke-related illness. He was 81.
REUTERS/Chip East
Before sitting on the Southern District of New York bankruptcy bench from 1985 until 2005, Blackshear worked for the U.S. Department of Justice’s bankruptcy watchdog, the U.S. Trustee Program. In 1983 he became the first Black U.S. Trustee, according to a statement from Fordham Law School, where he earned his law degree and later taught.
Blackshear represented the U.S. Trustee program in the 1982 case of manufacturer Johns-Manville, the largest company to ever seek bankruptcy at that time. That case, prompted by thousands of lawsuits alleging asbestos-related illnesses, made history for resolving the asbestos claims through the creation of a $2.5 billion trust to pay out victims.