Hi Cab.
Yeah it looks like they must delete them before passing the drawing on. There are not normally any layerstates saved either by cmd line 'layerstates' or via the layer states manager.
It looks like express tools has removed LMAN, but 2009 (which I am on) will detect LMAN express tools layerstates and convert them to autocad layerstates.
LMAN
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Layer Properties Manager Dialog BoxLMAN, -LMAN, LMANMODE, and -LMANMODE are no longer part of the Express Tools. Use the Layer States Manager dialog box in AutoCAD to achieve the functionality of these commands. For more information about the Layer States Manager dialog box, see the AutoCAD Help system. Also see LAYERSTATE command in the Command Reference.
Note: The LMAN command now invokes the LAYERSTATE command.
Thanks for the link, I've given them a go, but havent been able to figure anything out!
Cheers
P