Description of Case:

Question

Johns-Manville Corp. is a Fortune 500 company, and was deemed a paradigm of success in corporate America by the financial community. However, the company produced a product that was poison—asbestos. (Moreover, Manville knew it was poison, and had know it since the 1930s , and it hid the danger.). By 1982 approximately 16,000 lawsuits were pending against Manville, and it anticipated a further crushing economic burden by the filing of an even more staggering number of suits by those who had been exposed but who will not manifest the asbestos-related diseases until some time during this future period (20-30 years as the disease manifests itself--“the future asbestos claimants”). Approximately 6,000 asbestos health claims were estimated to have arisen in only the first 16 months since the filing date. The burden was compounded by the insurance industry’s general disavowal of liability to Manville on policies written for this very purpose.

My only Question here is:

The Johns Manville corporation petitioned for a preemptive bankruptcy under Chapter 11, Can the Johns Manville corporation declare bankruptcy and discharge future cases?