Published August 10, 2026
Uniroyal Holding, Inc. and its subsidiary Great Hill Corporation filed voluntary Chapter 11 petitions on July 31, 2026 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, seeking to resolve more than 35,000 pending asbestos injury claims tied to the legacy tire and rubber manufacturer's decades-old products. The case was assigned to Judge Michael B. Kaplan in the Trenton Vicinage.
Uniroyal has had no operating business for more than three decades — its remaining purpose has been defending and resolving asbestos claims and administering a shrinking retiree benefits program. According to the company's bankruptcy filing, it has spent roughly $660 million defending and resolving asbestos lawsuits over the years. Weitz & Luxenberg is listed as the largest plaintiffs' firm involved, representing more than 22,000 of the pending cases.
Court filings indicate this is a consensual case: before filing, Uniroyal negotiated a restructuring support agreement with an ad hoc group of claimant representatives (represented by Brown Rudnick LLP and Province LLC), under which that group agreed to support the company's proposed Chapter 11 plan to fund a claims resolution trust. A bankruptcy judge scheduled a hearing for September 10, 2026 to consider the disclosure statement describing that plan in detail.
When a company facing large numbers of asbestos claims — often from mesothelioma, lung cancer, or other asbestos-related disease — files Chapter 11, the typical outcome is a court-approved trust funded by the company's remaining assets that pays out claims according to a set of agreed criteria, rather than case-by-case litigation. For people who worked with or around Uniroyal or Great Hill products decades ago and later developed an asbestos-related illness, a trust generally offers a faster (if often smaller) path to compensation than continuing individual lawsuits, and existing lawsuits are typically paused while the bankruptcy proceeds.
If you or a family member were exposed to asbestos and later diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos-related illness, see Atumio's asbestos exposure case page to learn more about who may be affected.