Asbestos Litigation
Each asbestos case is distinct, but the general process for defending claims involving asbestos is similar. Your lawyer will need to interview the plaintiff.
The exposure of a person to asbestos can be triggered by numerous sources, not only an employer or a company. This is the reason asbestos cases usually involve multiple defendants.
Determine the source of exposure
The identification of asbestos exposure is an important step to file an asbestos claim. Often, the attorneys of victims can use medical records to determine the source of asbestos. This can assist victims in obtaining compensation from the companies accountable for asbestos exposure.
Mesothelioma victims and their families need compensation to pay for mesothelioma-related treatment. Compensation can also help families cope with the emotional burden of mesothelioma being diagnosed.
Asbestos lawsuits are complex legal proceedings, and the victims need to know their rights and how the process works. While attorneys are able to handle a variety of aspects of a case, the victims are expected to be involved in their own case. This includes responding to requests for discovery and taking depositions.
Remember that the statutes are limited in New York, and you should seek advice from an asbestos lawyer as soon as you can. If you fail to file your claim within the specified time period you could be unable to collect on financial compensation.
In some instances, asbestos products made by multiple companies have been used to expose victims. In these cases, lawyers representing the victims will have to determine the source of all asbestos lawsuit; please click the next page,-containing products, and the companies and contractors that supplied the asbestos-containing products.
Asbestos lawsuits are the longest-running mass tort of American history. It is the cause of numerous bankruptcy filings by asbestos manufacturers. Many of these companies have established trust funds to compensate asbestos victims. But asbestos defendants continue to contest evidence linking asbestos exposure and mesothelioma, lung cancer, or other respiratory illnesses. This is despite studies conducted by doctors like Dr. Irving J. Selikoff, Dr. Jacob Churg, and Dr. E. Cuyler Hammond, among others.
Making the Database
A lawsuit involving asbestos-related diseases or mesothelioma is different than a typical personal injury claim. In many cases, asbestos litigation involves many of the same defendants (companies that are sued) and many of the same law firms representing plaintiffs, as well as many of the same expert witnesses.
To develop a successful asbestos defense, attorneys need to have access to a vast database that will help them identify potential exposure sources. This includes examining the work site, speaking with coworkers and getting documents from suppliers and employers. The process also involves the search for and interviewing nurses and doctors who can testify regarding asbestos exposure.
Making this kind of database can be challenging, especially in cases where the data has been deleted or lost over time. When this happens it could necessitate the reconstruction of an entire claims database and insurance program, often from a variety of sources, including loss runs, claim files, internal systems and defense counsel records. It can take years, or even years to complete.
Asbestos lawyers should also have access to a software that allows them to locate potential exposure areas and identify potential defendants. Having this information at the fingertips of lawyers can save time and money.
Following the massive bankruptcy of many asbestos producers attorneys for plaintiffs sought new defendants to list in their lawsuits. In the end asbestos cases in West Virginia have become defined by tri-annual consolidated trial groups where the volume is paramount and suits that name fewer than 100 defendants are a rarity.
Identifying the Defendants
The truthful basis of asbestos cases is often established through discovery. Asbestos companies denied for many years that their products could cause harm, but after the lawsuits began documents from the company provided evidence of the dangers. These documents can be used to prove that certain products of the defendants caused injuries. To prevail in a lawsuit, a plaintiff has to demonstrate that the defendant's products were used in the workplace, and that he inhaled dust from the product, and that the exposure was a major factor in his injuries.
Since asbestos cases have multiple defendants, the process of identifying defendants is different from the typical personal injury case. Through interviews with coworkers and family members, reviewing invoices and work orders, obtaining documents from suppliers and vendors and analyzing asbestos samples from the plaintiff's workplace and home, it is possible to create an online database that links employers as well as locations and products. The type of asbestos lawyer involved such as amosite, chrysotile or crocidolite - is useful in identifying defendants since each product is manufactured by a different manufacturer.
Defendants are required to carefully examine 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 records of a worker. Because the latency of asbestos injuries is so long, the creation of an accurate database requires a lot of time and costly investigation.
Due to the sheer number of cases and limited resources of defendants, many asbestos cases are referred to multi-district litigation (MDL) in federal courts. This gives defendants the opportunity to share resources, and also avoid duplicate discovery.
Making a Case
Asbestos lawsuits involve extensive research and the review of a large number of documents. This can be a difficult task, since asbestos exposure often occurs years before the victim becomes ill. To pinpoint the source of the asbestos exposure, lawyers must conduct interview and carefully review thousands pages of documentation, such as employment records and union documents tax files, social security records, medical and lab reports.
The attorneys representing the plaintiffs must do all they can to find other defendants. In certain cases, there could be up to 40 defendants. To achieve this they need to look further down the supply chain and look into entities with a possible nexus to asbestos, but have not been named in the lawsuit.
This process is long, particularly when the claimant suffers from mesothelioma or any other serious illness. In addition, it can be often difficult to find witnesses and get physical evidence.
A mesothelioma lawyer will determine the identity of all defendants who could be implicated, and their connection to victim's exposure. This could include a thorough examination of the last 40 years of the victim's life, which may include interviews and a review their social security, labor, union and tax records.
A successful asbestos litigation strategy requires a wealth of knowledge of this complicated area of law. At McGivney, Kluger, Clark & Intoccia, we have been at the forefront of asbestos attorneys litigation since our inception at the beginning of 1994. We are also 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 represent the interests of a broad range of defendants, including product manufacturers, distributors, and contractors. We have extensive experience in creating and establishing key defenses as well as expert witness testimony and jurisdictional Case Management Orders.
Preparing for trial
Lawyers must carefully prepare their cases for trial in order to ensure that their clients' arguments and evidence are as strong as they can be. This includes reviewing medical records, making sure that all witnesses are prepared and identifying exhibits to be used in the case. This process can take years in complex cases.
Many asbestos patients develop a less severe disease such as asbestosis, the pleural plaque or fibrosis, prior to the development of mesothelioma. Asbestosis symptoms can include tightening of the lungs which could cause breathing problems, coughing, chest pain and so on.
Asbestos victims' attorneys must also scrutinize the evidence to identify any potential defendants who could be held responsible for the asbestos-related injuries. This involves interviewing family members, colleagues asbestos abatement workers, asbestos abatement experts and asbestos manufacturers, in addition to gathering various documents.
After identifying a potential defendant, an attorney must determine the responsibility of the defendant. The defendants could be individuals, companies or governmental organizations. They must be held accountable for their wrongful actions.
Congress has offered a variety of legislative solutions to end asbestos lawsuits. The efforts have not been successful due to a range of complicated political issues. Asbestos victims and their lawyers are determined to hold negligent asbestos companies accountable for their conduct.
The law firm of Waters Kraus & Paul has handled hundreds of cases throughout New York state and across the country. Our attorneys have held asbestos producers, insurance companies, and other responsible parties accountable. In Upstate New York asbestos litigation is centralized into five judicial districts which are assigned cases by judges with experience in asbestos-related matters.
The Asbestos Litigation Group is open to AAJ Regular Life, Sustaining, and President's Club members. Members meet and discuss legal issues and strategies on the Group's plaintiff-only list server, at annual and winter conventions and participate in educational seminars on asbestos litigation.