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Contingencies | 6 Months Ended
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Jun. 30, 2015
Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Contingencies | 8. Contingencies The Company is involved in a number of legal proceedings concerning matters arising out of the conduct of its business activities and is periodically subject to governmental and regulatory examinations, information gathering requests, subpoenas, inquiries and investigations (collectively, governmental examinations). As of June 30, 2015, the Company and various of its subsidiaries were named as a defendant or were otherwise involved in numerous legal proceedings and governmental examinations in various juris dictions, both in and outside the U.S. The Company discloses its material legal proceedings and governmental examinations under Part II, Item 1. “Legal Proceedings” in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and Part I, Item 3. “Legal Proceedings” in the Annual Report (collectively, Legal Proceedings). The Company has recorded liabilities for certain of its outstanding legal proceedings and governmental examinations. A liability is accrued when it is both (a) probable that a loss has occurred and (b) the amount of loss can be reasonably estimated. There may be instances in which an exposure to loss exceeds the accrued liability. The Company evaluates, on a quarterly basis, developments in legal proceedings and governmental examinations that could cause an increa se or decrease in the amount of the liability that has been previously accrued, or a revision to the disclosed estimated range of possible losses, as applicable. The Company’s legal proceedings range from cases brought by a single plaintiff to class actio ns with millions of putative class members. These legal proceedings, as well as governmental examinations, involve various lines of business of the Company and a variety of claims (including, but not limited to, common law tort, contract, antitrust and con sumer protection claims), some of which present novel factual allegations and/or unique legal theories. While some matters pending against the Company specify the damages claimed by the plaintiff, many seek an unspecified amount of damages or are at very e arly stages of the legal process. Even when the amount of damages claimed against the Company are stated, the claimed amount may be exaggerated and/or unsupported. As a result, some matters have not yet progressed sufficiently through discovery and/or deve lopment of important factual information and legal issues to enable the Company to estimate an amount of loss or a range of possible loss. Other matters have progressed sufficiently through discovery and/or development of important factual information an d legal issues so that the Company is able to estimate an amount of loss or a range of possible loss. Accordingly, for those legal proceedings and governmental examinations disclosed or referred to in Legal Proceedings where a loss is reasonably possible in future periods, whether in excess of a related accrued liability or where there is no accrued liability, and for which the Company is able to estimate a range of possible loss, the current estimated range is zero to $370 million in exce ss of a ny accrued liability related to these matters. This aggregate range represents management’s estimate of possible loss with respect to these matters and is based on currently available information. This estimated range of possible loss does not represent th e Company’s maximum loss exposure. The legal proceedings and governmental examinations underlying the estimated range will change from time to time and actual results may vary significantly from current estimates. Based on its current knowledge, and takin g into consideration its litigation-related liabilities, the Company believes it is not a party to, nor are any of its properties the subject of, any pending legal proceeding or governmental examination that would have a material adverse effect on the Comp any’s consolidated financial condition or liquidity. However, in light of the uncertainties involved in such matters, the ultimate outcome of a particular matter could be material to the Company’s operating results for a particular period depending on, amo ng other factors, the size of the loss or liability imposed and the level of the Company’s earnings for that period.

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