Contingencies And Commitments

3 Months Ended

Mar. 29, 2020

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

(11) Commitments and Contingencies

We are subject to various legal proceedings and claims pertaining to matters such as product liability or contract disputes, including issues arising under certain customer contracts with aerospace and defense customers. We are also subject to other proceedings and governmental inquiries, inspections, audits or investigations pertaining to issues such as tax matters, patents and trademarks, pricing, business practices, governmental regulations, employment and other matters. Although the results of litigation and claims cannot be predicted with certainty, we expect that the ultimate disposition of these matters, to the extent not previously provided for, will not have a material adverse effect, individually or in the aggregate, on our business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity.

Asbestos-related product liability claims continue to be filed against two of our subsidiaries: Spence Engineering Company, Inc. (“Spence”), the stock of which we acquired in 1984; and CIRCOR Instrumentation Technologies, Inc. (f/k/a Hoke, Inc.) (“Hoke”), the stock of which we acquired in 1998. The Hoke subsidiary was divested in January 2020 through our sale of I&S. However, the Company has indemnified the buyer for asbestos-related claims that are made against Hoke. Due to the nature of the products supplied by these entities, the markets they serve and our historical experience in resolving these claims, we do not expect that these asbestos-related claims will have a material adverse effect on the financial condition, results of operations or liquidity of the Company.

Standby Letters of Credit

We execute standby letters of credit, which include bid bonds and performance bonds, in the normal course of business to ensure our performance or payments to third parties. The aggregate notional value of these instruments was $35.5 million at March 29, 2020. We believe that the likelihood of demand for a significant payment relating to the outstanding instruments is remote. These instruments generally have expiration dates ranging from less than 1 month to 5 years from March 29, 2020.

The following table contains information related to standby letters of credit instruments outstanding as of March 29, 2020 (in thousands):



Term Remaining	Maximum Potential Future Payments
0–12 months	$	20,747
Greater than 12 months	14,707
Total	$	35,454