20 Quotes That Will Help You Understand Asbestos Litigation

Asbestos Litigation

Each asbestos case is different, but the general process for defending claims involving asbestos is similar. Your lawyer will ask you to take an interview with the plaintiff.

The source of asbestos exposure could be many, not just one employer or company. This is the reason asbestos cases usually involve multiple defendants.

Determine the source of exposure

Identifying asbestos exposure is a crucial step to file an asbestos claim. Lawyers for victims often utilize medical records to determine the source of asbestos. This can assist victims in receiving compensation from the companies responsible for asbestos exposure.

Mesothelioma sufferers and their families need compensation to cover the cost of mesothelioma treatments. Compensation can help families cope emotionally with the mesothelioma diagnosis.

Asbestos lawsuits are complicated legal proceedings, and the victims need to know their rights and the way in which the process operates. Attorneys are able to handle a variety of aspects of a case they are expected to participate in the proceedings. This includes responding to requests for discovery and attending depositions.

Remember that the statutes of limitations are limited in New York, and you should seek advice from an asbestos lawyer immediately if you are able to. Failure to file a claim within the appropriate timeframe could result in missing out on financial compensation.

In some cases victims were exposed to asbestos-containing products made by multiple companies. In these cases, victims' attorneys may need to identify the manufacturers of each product, as well as the employers or contractors who provided the asbestos-containing materials.

Asbestos litigation is the longest-running mass tort in American history, and it has been the cause of dozens of bankruptcy filings by asbestos manufacturers. Many of these companies have created trust funds to pay compensation to asbestos victims. However asbestos defendants continue to deny the evidence linking asbestos exposure to mesothelioma or lung cancer. This is despite the research of doctors like Dr. Irving J. Selikoff and Dr. Jacob Churg.

The process of creating the Database

A lawsuit involving asbestos-related diseases or mesothelioma differs from a typical personal injury case. In a lot of asbestos litigation cases, the plaintiffs are represented by the same law firms as well as the same expert witnesses.

In order to develop a viable defense in an asbestos-related case, attorneys must have access to a database that can pinpoint potential exposure sources. This involves reviewing the job site, interviewing coworkers, and obtaining documents from suppliers and employers. The process also requires tracking down and interviewing nurses and doctors who can testify about asbestos exposure.

Making this kind of database can be difficult particularly in situations where the data was lost or destroyed over the course of time. When this occurs, it can require the reconstruction of a complete claims database and insurance program, often from multiple sources like loss runs claims files, internal systems and defense counsel records. It could take years, or even decades, to complete.

Asbestos lawyers should also have access to a program that allows them to locate potential exposure sites and identify potential defendants. Lawyers can save time and money by having this information at their fingertips.

After the bankruptcy of many asbestos producers, plaintiffs' attorneys looked for new defendants for their lawsuits. As a result asbestos cases in West Virginia have become defined by tri-annual consolidated trial groups in which the volume is paramount and suits naming fewer than 100 defendants are not common.

Identifying the Defendants

The truthful basis of asbestos cases is often established through discovery. Asbestos firms have denied for many years that their products could cause harm, but once the lawsuits began documents from the company provided evidence of the dangers. These documents can aid plaintiffs establish that certain defendants' products caused their injuries. To win a case a plaintiff must demonstrate that the defendant's product was utilized at his workplace and that they were exposed to it by inhaling dust and that the exposure to the dust was a major cause of his injuries.

Asbestos cases typically involve multiple defendants. The process of identifying them differs from a personal injury case. The key is to build an inventory of employers, locations and products by speaking with relatives and coworkers looking over invoices and work orders and obtaining documents from vendors and suppliers and analyzing samples from the plaintiff's home and employment websites. The type of asbestos used - amosite, chrysotile or Crocidolite - could be useful in identifying defendants since each product is produced by an individual manufacturer.

Defendants must carefully look over these facts and determine the possible sources of exposure. This could include a review of over 40 years of records from the Social Security, tax, union and other documents of workers. Because of the long time lag of asbestos-related injuries, it's difficult and expensive to establish an accurate database.

Due to the huge number of asbestos cases, and the limited resources of defendants in federal courts, many asbestos cases will be assigned to a multi-district lawsuit (MDL). This practice allows defendants the opportunity to pool resources and also avoid duplicate discovery.

Case Development

Asbestos suits require extensive investigation and the review of numerous documents. This can be a particularly difficult task because asbestos exposure can occur years before a person is diagnosed with a disease. To determine the sources of exposure, lawyers need to conduct interviews and review hundreds of pages of documentation such as the employment records, union documents as well as social security and tax files and medical and laboratory reports.

The lawyers representing the plaintiffs have to do everything they can to identify additional defendants. In many cases, the number defendants can be as high as 30 or 40. To achieve this they must go further down the supply chain and investigate organizations that could have a connection to asbestos that have not been identified in the lawsuit.

This process is often very lengthy, especially if the claimant suffers from mesothelioma or other serious diseases. Additionally, it is often difficult to locate witnesses and to obtain physical evidence.

A mesothelioma lawyer will establish the potential defendants and their relationship to victim's exposure. This can be accomplished by a thorough analysis of more than 40 years of the victim's life through interviews and a review of their social security, union, and tax records.

A successful asbestos attorneys litigation strategy relies on a wealth of experience in a complex area of law. At McGivney, Kluger, Clark & Intoccia, we have been at the forefront of asbestos litigation since our inception back in 1994. We are the experts in the nation's defense of companies involved in industry-wide, multi-jurisdictional litigation. We are the National Coordinating Counsel, and liaison counsel. We represent and coordinate the interests of a wide range of defendants, including product manufacturers, distributors and contractors. We have extensive experience in developing and establishing key defenses including expert witness testimony, jurisdictional Case Management Orders.

Prepare for Trial

Lawyers must be careful in preparing their cases for trial in order to ensure that their clients' evidence and arguments are the strongest they can be. This includes reviewing medical records, preparing all witnesses and identifying exhibits to be used in the trial. This process can be several years in the case of complex cases.

Many asbestos victims develop a less severe disease such as asbestosis, pleural plaque or fibrosis before the mesothelioma's development. Asbestosis symptoms include tightening of the lungs which can cause breathing difficulties, coughing and chest pain.

Attorneys for asbestos victims must also carefully review the evidence to identify potential defendants that might be accountable for the asbestos injuries. This involves interviewing co-workers, family members, abatement workers, asbestos manufacturers and obtaining various documents.

Once an attorney has identified a possible defendant, they need to determine the liability of that person. The defendants could be individuals, companies or government agencies. They must be held accountable for their actions.

Many legislative solutions to solve asbestos litigation have been suggested in Congress. However, these attempts have failed due to a number of complicated political motives. Asbestos victims along with their lawyers and government remain determined to hold negligent asbestos lawyers firms accountable for their actions.

Waters Kraus & Paul is an attorney firm that has handled a variety of cases in New York State and across the nation. Our lawyers have held asbestos producers as well as insurance companies and other responsible parties accountable. In Upstate New York asbestos litigation is divided into five judicial districts where cases are supervised by judges with experience in asbestos matters.

The Asbestos Litigation Group welcomes all AAJ members including regular, life sustainer, President's club members. Members of the Asbestos Litigation Group network and discuss legal issues strategies, as well as at Winter and annual conventions.