On weekends, or whenever Simona Farrise finds time, she likes to go bargain-hunting on eBay and at garage sales near her home in the Oakland, Calif., hills. She once picked up a 60-year-old occupational safety manual, a document the lawyer later used in civil trials to show that American auto companies long ago knew -- or should have known -- about health hazards caused by asbestos exposure. Farrise paid 50 cents to take it home. "Other people's junk makes for very good evidence," said Farrise, a name partner at the asbestos plaintiffs shop Kazan, McClain, Abrams, Fernandez, Lyons, Farrise & Greenwood. Last month, Farrise might have scored her best piece of evidence yet. She went on eBay and purchased a white 1973 Dodge Fargo motor home, including some original factory-installed parts, from a seller in South Carolina.