Asbestos Litigation
Each asbestos case is unique however the general procedure for defending against claims based on asbestos is the same. Your lawyer will ask you to conduct a deposition of the plaintiff.
The cause of asbestos exposure could be many, not just one employer or business. This is the reason asbestos cases typically involve multiple defendants.
Find out the source of exposure
To submit an asbestos claim it is important to identify asbestos lawyer exposure. Attorneys for victims can often use medical records to determine asbestos' source. This could help victims receive compensation from the companies that are responsible for their asbestos exposure.
Compensation is essential for mesothelioma patients and their families to pay for the cost of expensive treatment. Compensation can also assist families in dealing with the emotional burden of a mesothelioma being diagnosed.
Asbestos lawsuits can be a complicated legal cases, and victims need to understand their rights and how the process works. While attorneys can handle a variety of aspects of a case, they are expected to participate in the case. This includes responding to requests for discovery and taking 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. If you don't submit your claim within the stipulated timeframe, you could lose out on financial compensation.
In some cases asbestos-containing products manufactured by several companies have been used to expose victims. In these cases, victims lawyers may be required to identify the manufacturer of each product, in addition to the contractors or employers who supplied the asbestos-containing products.
Asbestos lawsuits are the longest-running mass tort in American history. It has been responsible for dozens bankruptcy filings from asbestos manufacturers. Many of these companies set up trust funds for asbestos victims. But asbestos defendants continue to dispute evidence that links mesothelioma and asbestos exposure lung cancer or other respiratory ailments. This is despite research by doctors like Dr. Irving J. Selikoff and Dr. Jacob Churg, and Dr. E. Cuyler Hammond among others.
Making an Database
A lawsuit involving mesothelioma or other asbestos-related illnesses is distinct from a typical personal injury case. In many cases, asbestos litigation involves many of the same defendants (companies who are being sued), many of the same law firms that represent plaintiffs, and a lot of the same expert witnesses.
To build a strong asbestos defense, lawyers have to have access to a vast database that will help them identify potential exposure sources. This includes looking over job sites, talking to coworkers and collecting documents from suppliers and employers. This involves finding and interviewing nurses or doctors who may be able to be able to testify about asbestos exposure.
The creation of this type of database can be difficult, especially in cases where the data has been lost or destroyed over the course of time. In these situations it could be necessary to recreate a complete insurance program and claims database, making use of multiple sources, such as loss runs and claim files internal system and defense counsel records. This can take many years or even years to complete.
asbestos lawyers - Full Document - should also have access to a software that allows them locate potential exposure areas and identify potential defendants. This information is at the fingertips of lawyers can help save time and money.
After the collapse of several asbestos producers, plaintiffs' lawyers sought out new defendants for their lawsuits. In the wake of this asbestos cases in West Virginia are now defined by triannual consolidated trial groups in which volume is the king and suits that name less than 100 defendants is rare.
Identifying defendants
The majority of asbestos cases are founded by factual evidence that's later discovered. Many asbestos companies resisted for many years that their products could cause harm to people, but once the lawsuits started, documents from the company emerged to reveal evidence of the dangers. These documents can be used to prove that particular defendants products caused injuries. To win a case, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant's product was in use at his workplace and that they were exposed to it inhaling dust and that the exposure was a significant cause of his injuries.
Asbestos cases usually involve multiple defendants. The process of identifying them differs from a personal injury lawsuit. Through interviews with coworkers and family members, reviewing invoices and work orders, getting documents from suppliers and vendors and analyzing asbestos samples from the plaintiff's work place and home it is possible to build a database that links employers as well as locations and products. The type of asbestos involved - amosite, chrysotile, or crocidolite - is helpful in identifying defendants because each product is manufactured by a different manufacturer.
Defendants must carefully review the facts and determine any potential sources of exposure, which can involve a review of more than forty years of a worker's existence through Social Security, union, tax and other documents. Due to the long latency of asbestos-related injuries, it can be difficult and costly to build an accurate database.
Due to the high volume of asbestos cases and limited resources of defendants in federal courts, a lot of asbestos cases will be referred to a multidistrict lawsuit (MDL). This practice allows defendants the opportunity to share resources and avoid duplication of discovery.
Case Development
Asbestos lawsuits require a lot of investigation and the review of a large number of documents. This can be a challenge because exposure to asbestos typically was a long time before the victim became sick. In order to identify the sources of exposure, lawyers need to conduct interviews and look over the thousands of pages of documents such as union documents, employment records as well as tax and social security files and medical and laboratory reports.
The lawyers representing the plaintiffs must do all they can to find additional defendants. In many cases, the number defendants could be as high as 30 or 40. To accomplish this they must go further down the supply chain and look into companies that may have a connection to asbestos, even if they haven't been identified in the lawsuit.
This process can be extremely long, particularly when the claimant suffers from mesothelioma or any other serious illness. It is also difficult to find witnesses and to gather evidence.
A mesothelioma lawyer will determine the potential defendants and their connection to victim's exposure. This could require a thorough review of more than 40 years of the victim's history through interviews, as well as a look at their social security, union, and tax records.
A successful asbestos litigation strategy depends on years of experience in a complex area of law. At McGivney, Kluger, Clark & Intoccia We have been at the forefront of asbestos litigation since our founding 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 as well as representing the interests of a variety of different defendants, including product manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and contractors. We have extensive expertise in creating and establishing key defenses as well as expert witness testimony and jurisdictional Case Management Orders.
Preparing for trial
Lawyers must be careful in preparing their cases for trial to ensure that their clients' arguments and evidence are as strong as they can be. This includes reviewing medical records and making sure that all witnesses are prepared. It also involves identifying the exhibits that will be used during the trial. This process can take a long time in complicated cases.
Before developing mesothelioma asbestos victims develop a lesser disease such as asbestosis, and pleural plaque. Asbestosis symptoms include tightening of the lungs which could cause breathing problems, coughing, and chest pain.
Attorneys for asbestos victims must also look over the evidence to determine potential defendants that could be held accountable for the asbestos-related injuries. This involves interviewing co-workers and family members, asbestos asbestos manufacturers, asbestos abatement employees and obtaining various documents.
Once an attorney has identified a defendant, they must determine the liability of the person. The defendants could be individuals, businesses or government agencies. They must be held accountable for their negligent actions.
Congress has offered a variety of legislative remedies to resolve asbestos lawsuits. The efforts have not been successful due to a variety of complex political factors. Asbestos victims as well as their lawyers and the government remain determined to hold asbestos companies accountable for their behavior.
Waters Kraus & Paul is a law firm that has handled hundreds cases in New York State and across the country. Our lawyers have held asbestos manufacturers insurance companies, asbestos attorneys 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 cases.
The Asbestos Litigation Group is open to AAJ Regular Life, Life, Sustaining, and President's Club members. Members interact and discuss legal issues and strategies on the group's plaintiff-only list server at the annual and winter conventions as well as in seminars for education on asbestos litigation.