Congoleum Retains New Insurance Counsel

Mercerville, NJ, October 20, 2005--Congoleum Corp. announced today that the law firm of Gilbert Heintz & Randolph will be withdrawing as coverage counsel by mutual agreement following an appeals court ruling that it had other representations which were in conflict with its representation of Congoleum, and that Congoleum will be retaining the firm of Covington & Burling to represent it on the insurance coverage litigation and insurance settlement matters previously handled by Gilbert Heintz. The transition is subject to court approval. The New Jersey firm of Dughi & Hewit will continue to serve as co-counsel in Congoleum's coverage litigation. Because of the time required to make the transition and to make any further modifications to the plan that may be appropriate in light of the appeals court ruling, Congoleum has asked the Bankruptcy Court to postpone its deadline for submission of a revised plan until December 5, 2005. The company expects to request a lengthier adjournment in its coverage case to facilitate the counsel transition. Roger S. Marcus, Chairman of the Board, commented, "We were disappointed in the appeals court decision, because we believe Gilbert Heintz has done an outstanding job on our behalf and we have enjoyed working with them. However, we are fortunate to have retained another firm with significant capability and expertise, and have the utmost confidence they will do a fine job working with the Dughi & Hewit firm in dealing with our complex coverage litigation." Mr. Marcus continued, "We have asked the bankruptcy court for another month to submit our revised plan. This time will allow us to deal with attorney transition issues as well as any further plan modifications. In the mean time, we are continuing forward with settlement negotiations in addition to the over $164 million of insurance settlement agreements already in place. I remain hopeful that we will have a plan confirmed in the first half of 2006." Copies of the modified plan of reorganization and disclosure statement will be filed by Congoleum with the Securities and Exchange Commission as exhibits to a Form 8-K when they are available. They will also be available on the investor relations section of Congoleum's website at www.congoleum.com. On December 31, 2003, Congoleum Corporation filed a voluntary petition with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey (Case No. 03-51524) seeking relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code as a means to resolve claims asserted against it related to the use of asbestos in its products decades ago.

Print the Article