Business Notes LAWSUITS

Walk into John Andrews' Tampa law office with a disposable Bic lighter, and Andrews will truly dispose of it -- on the spot. Andrews is one of several attorneys who have brought a growing number of negligence suits against French-owned Bic since 1981, charging the firm with manufacturing a hazardous product.

Bic, the market leader in disposable lighters, claims to have sold 2 billion of the 79 cents throwaway items since 1973. According to the litigants, the lighter is an unstable fire bomb that can self-ignite in housecoat pockets and purses and on car dashboards. Bic accidents have allegedly claimed the life of at least one victim, Ethel Smith of Tower City, Pa., whose husband is suing for $11 million. Other suits against the company * could easily mount into additional millions of dollars. In one of the first Bic cases tried in open court, Philadelphia Artist Cynthia Littlejohn last November won $3.25 million based on her claim that a Bic lighter ignited in her front pocket in 1983, causing burns over 25% of her body. The circumstances of the other cases are less widely known because Bic has settled most of them out of court, with the stipulation that the claimants agree to keep quiet.

Officials of Bic, which has its U.S. headquarters in Milford, Conn., note that product packages warn customers to make sure the lighter flame is doused after use. But the warnings do not appear on the lighters themselves. For his part, President Bruno Bich says that "Bic manufactures the best lighter on the market."