10 Quick Tips On Asbestos Litigation

Asbestos Litigation

Each asbestos case is unique, but the general process to defend these claims is the same. Your lawyer will ask you to take a deposition of the plaintiff.

A person's exposure to asbestos can be triggered by numerous sources, not only one employer or company. This is the reason asbestos cases typically involve multiple defendants.

Determining the Source of Exposure

Recognizing asbestos exposure is a crucial step to file an asbestos claim. Attorneys for victims can often make use of medical records to determine the source of asbestos. This can help victims get compensation from the companies accountable for asbestos exposure.

Compensation is needed by mesothelioma patients as well as their families to pay for the cost of expensive treatment. Compensation can also help families cope with the emotional burden of mesothelioma being diagnosed.

Asbestos cases are a complex legal issues. The victims must be aware of their rights and the process. While attorneys can handle many aspects of a case victims are expected to participate in their case as well. This includes responding promptly to requests for discovery and attending court depositions.

It is also important to keep in mind that statutes of limitations in New York are limited, and it is crucial to seek out an experienced asbestos lawyer as soon as you can. If you fail to file your claim within the specified time period, you could lose out on financial compensation.

In certain instances victims have been exposed to asbestos-containing products made by various companies. In these instances, lawyers representing the victims be required to identify all asbestos-containing products as well as the companies and contractors that supplied the asbestos-containing products.

Asbestos litigation is the longest-running mass tort in American history. It has been the cause of hundreds of bankruptcy filings from asbestos producers. Many of these companies have established trust funds for asbestos victims. However, asbestos defendants continue to dispute evidence that links asbestos exposure to mesothelioma lung cancer, or other respiratory illnesses. This is despite research by doctors like Dr. Irving J. Selikoff, Dr. Jacob Churg, and Dr. E. Cuyler Hammond among others.

The process of creating the Database

A case involving asbestos-related diseases or mesothelioma is different than a typical personal injury claim. In many cases asbestos litigation, there are many of the same defendants (companies that are sued), many of the same law firms that represent plaintiffs and many of the same expert witnesses.

To be able to build a successful asbestos defense, lawyers have to have access to a vast database that can pinpoint potential exposure sources. This involves reviewing job sites, interviewing co-workers and collecting records from employers and suppliers. This also involves the search for and interviewing nurses and doctors who can testify regarding asbestos exposure.

Making this kind of database can be challenging particularly when the data was lost or destroyed over the course of time. In these cases it is possible to rebuild the entire insurance program and claims database, making use of multiple sources, including loss runs, claim files, internal system and defense counsel records. This can take many years or even years to complete.

Asbestos attorneys must also have access to a program that permits them to identify potential defendants and potential exposure sites. Having this information at the fingertips of attorneys can save time and money.

After the mass bankruptcies of many asbestos producers, plaintiffs' lawyers sought new defendants to list in their lawsuits. As a result asbestos cases in West Virginia have become defined by tri-annual consolidated trial groups where the number of defendants is paramount, and suits that name fewer than 100 defendants are rare.

Identifying the Defendants

Often, asbestos cases are founded by factual evidence that's later discovered. Many asbestos exposure litigation companies denied for years that their products could cause harm to people, but once lawsuits began, company documents emerged to reveal evidence of the dangers. These documents can help plaintiffs establish that certain defendants' products caused their injuries. In order to win a lawsuit the plaintiff must prove that the defendant's product were used in the workplace, and that he inhaled dust from the product, and that the exposure was a major cause of his injuries.

Asbestos cases usually involve multiple defendants. The process of identifying them is different from a personal injury lawsuit. By interviewing family and coworkers members, examining invoices and work orders, getting documents from vendors and suppliers, and analyzing asbestos law and litigation samples from the plaintiff's workplace and home it is possible to establish a database that links employers, locations, and products. The type of asbestos used - amosite, chrysotile or crocidolite - is helpful in identifying defendants as each product is made by the same manufacturer.

Defendants must carefully examine these facts and determine all possible exposure sources. This may include a look at more than 40 years of records from Social Security, tax, union and other records of a worker. Because the time between asbestos litigation online-related injuries is long, establishing an accurate database requires a lot of time and costly research.

Due to the huge number of asbestos cases and limited resources of many defendants in federal courts, many asbestos cases will be referred to a multidistrict lawsuit (MDL). This practice allows defendants to share their resources and avoid duplicate discovery.

Case Development

Asbestos suits require a lot of investigation and the review of numerous documents. This can be a difficult job, as asbestos exposure is often a long time before the person who suffers from illness. To identify the source of asbestos exposure, attorneys must conduct an interview and review thousands pages of documentation like union and employment records, tax files and social security records, lab and medical reports.

The plaintiffs' attorneys must also do everything they can to find other defendants. In some cases, there can be as high as 40 defendants. To do so, they must look further down the supply chain and investigate companies that may have a connection to asbestos that have not been named in the lawsuit.

This process can be extremely time consuming, especially when the claimant suffers from mesothelioma and other severe illnesses. It can be difficult to find witnesses and to gather evidence.

A mesothelioma lawyer will attempt to establish all potential defendants and their connection to the victim's exposure. This can require a thorough examination of over 40 years of the victim's life via interviews as well as a review of their social security, union, labor and tax records.

A successful asbestos litigation strategy requires extensive experience in this tangled area of law. Since its inception at the beginning of 1994, McGivney, Kluger, Clark & Intoccia has been at the forefront of asbestos litigation and is a national leader in defending businesses in multi-jurisdictional litigation that spans the entire industry. We are the National Coordinating Counsel and Asbestos litigation liaison counsel, representing and representing the interests of a variety of different defendants, including product manufacturers distributors, suppliers, and contractors. We have a wealth of experience formulating and drafting key defenses including expert testimony, jurisdictional Case Management Orders.

Prepare for trial

Lawyers must meticulously prepare their cases ahead of trial to ensure that their clients can present the strongest evidence and arguments possible. This includes reviewing medical records and preparing all witnesses. It is also about identifying the exhibits that will be used during the trial. This can take a lot of time in complicated cases.

Before developing mesothelioma, many asbestos patients develop a lesser disease, such as asbestosis or and pleural plaque. Asbestosis symptoms can include tightening of the lungs which can cause breathing difficulties, coughing, and chest pain.

asbestos exposure litigation victims' lawyers must also scrutinize the evidence to find potential defendants that could be held accountable for the asbestos-related injuries. This includes interviewing family members, coworkers, asbestos abatement workers and asbestos litigation asbestos manufacturers, as well as getting various documents.

After identifying a potential defendant, an attorney must determine the liability of this party. The defendants can be businesses, individuals, or government agencies. They must be held accountable for their negligent actions.

Several legislative remedies to resolve asbestos litigation have been proposed in Congress. However, these efforts have failed due to a variety of complicated political motives. Asbestos victims as well as their lawyers and the government are committed to holding negligent asbestos companies accountable for their conduct.

The law firm of Waters Kraus & Paul has handled hundreds of cases in New York state and across the nation. Our attorneys have held asbestos manufacturers insurance companies, asbestos manufacturers, and other responsible parties accountable. In Upstate New York asbestos litigation is centralized into five judicial districts where cases are assigned by judges who have expertise in asbestos matters.

The Asbestos Litigation Group welcomes all AAJ members, including regular, life sustainer, President's Club members. Members interact and discuss legal issues and strategies on the group's plaintiff-only list server during the annual and winter conventions, and participate in educational seminars on asbestos litigation.