usually settled by exchanging a customer's ladder for a new one, according to Robert G. Howland, whose great-great-grandfather John Tilley founded the company. And Howland says the company never lost any of the few cases that went to trial over the years .
"We could see the handwriting on the wall and just want to end this whole thing," says Howland.

Tilley was bearing the burden for the national jump in jury awards in all product-liability cases--from an average of $1.7 million in 1994 to $6 million in 2002. "Unfortunately, even insureds with perfect loss records are impacted," says Craig D. Simon, managing director of insurance brokerage firm Willis Group Holdings. "This affects virtually every manufacturer of consumer goods."

Or as Sean McBride of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for Legal Reform puts it: "The problem for small, family-owned businesses like Tilley Ladders is that if the death tax does not get you, the unscrupulous trial lawyers will."

The company’s bankruptcy filing shows $810,000 in assets and $182,000 in liabilities. The assets will be held in a trust fund for future liability claims. Robert J. Rock, Tilley’s bankruptcy attorney, doubts any future claimant could win a case because of the ladders’ quality. But, he says, that won’t stop people from suing–meaning the funds in the trust will likely end up paying the lawyers.