10 Unquestionable Reasons People Hate Asbestos Lawsuit History

Asbestos Lawsuit History

Many asbestos victims have received help from lawyers such as Stanley Levy. People suffering from asbestos-related illnesses, such as mesothelioma, can sue companies who mined, manufactured or used asbestos.

Nellie Kershaw filed the first asbestos lawsuit. She was diagnosed with health issues while working in an asbestos fiber manufacturing plant in England. She died at the age of 33 of fibrosis in the lung caused by asbestos exposure.

The First Cases

Asbestos is a hazardous mineral that has afflicted or killed thousands of people over the years. Asbestos claims are filed for a variety of reasons, but most often involve those who were exposed to asbestos while at work. This includes employees who worked in factories that made asbestos-related products, or on the construction sites of buildings that contain asbestos. It can also include those who were exposed to asbestos through household products such as talcum powder.

Exposure to asbestos can lead to many different illnesses that include mesothelioma, lung cancer and other respiratory problems. While some of these illnesses are very serious and can be fatal, a lot of people have been able to obtain compensation for their injuries. The majority of countries have laws that require manufacturers of dangerous substances to inform anyone who might be injured.

The first asbestos lawsuit, filed in 1929, involved a woman by the name of Anna Pirskowski. She suffered from shortness of breath and thickening of the fingertip tissue (known as clubbing). She was awarded a settlement of $75,000 in what is believed to be a first class action lawsuit that involved asbestos.

Asbest lawsuits continued to be filed in the years that followed. Asbestos litigation became a broad area of law and many lawyers started to specialize in asbestos litigation. They only took on cases that were very important. One firm that did this was Kazan Law, which in the late 1980s started to concentrate on taking on cases for people with mesothelioma.

Other lawsuits were won by individuals who had suffered from other asbestos-related illnesses like asbestosis or plaques in the pleural cavity. The disease that caused them was like mesothelioma which makes it more straightforward to prove for lawyers. These claims led to the disclosure of secret documents which showed the ways asbestos product manufacturers attempted to hide their risks. This led to the Asbestos Ban and Phase Out Rule being announced in 1989.

The Second Case

As the number of people diagnosed with asbestos-related illnesses grew the families and victims began to file lawsuits. These lawsuits were filed against businesses that mined asbestos, produced asbestos-containing products or sold products containing asbestos. Mesothelioma sufferers also filed lawsuits against companies who created and built the buildings that they worked in including power plants, shipyards and refineries. The connection between asbestos exposure and the development of mesothelioma is strong.

In the early 1980s the legal battles over asbestos lawsuits became more ferocious and courts began to rule on many aspects of the litigation process. A federal court, for example decided that only those suffering from malignant asbestos-related diseases like mesothelioma and lung cancer were eligible to bring a lawsuit against the makers of asbestos products. The ruling, dubbed Borel v. Fibreboard Paper Products Corp. was an important setback for defendants in asbestos litigation.

At around the same time, Nellie Kershaw, a factory worker from Rochdale, England, filed what is considered the first well-known legal claim against asbestos companies. Kershaw was diagnosed with lung issues due to her close contact with raw asbestos fibers, attempted to convince the company she worked for to pay for her medical treatments. The company was unable to pay. Kershaw died in her 30s of fibrosis.

The second wave of asbestos cases focused on those who worked in construction sites and were exposed to different kinds of asbestos-containing building materials, including fireproofing sprays, drywall materials and textures. Asbestos lawyers also won lawsuits against companies who manufactured the equipment that made use of asbestos-containing products, such as boilers and pumps.

During this time, a variety of documents pertaining to asbestos companies were uncovered. These documents showed their involvement in fraud and conspiracies. The documents included the personal files of Johns-Manville president Sumner Simpson, as well as correspondence from the general counsel for another asbestos producer, Raybestos Manhattan. These documents revealed the plot of these companies to conceal knowledge that asbestos was dangerous and to suppress efforts to inform the public of the dangers.

The discovery of these, and other forms of corporate fraud and collusion in the early and mid-1980s led to a flurry of class action settlements as well as other efforts to limit asbestos liability for asbestos-related companies. These attempts were met with strong resistance from plaintiffs' attorneys and their clients, as well as from the public at large.

The Third Cases

In the 1970s, asbestos firms had lost the ability to keep information about the devastating effects of mesothelioma as well as other asbestos lawyer-related diseases from the public. This was largely due to the fact that the link between asbestos attorney and diseases like mesothelioma, asbestosis, and respiratory diseases like asthma began receiving attention from major national publications instead of just small medical journals or newsletters for industry. After asbestos-related serious illness were well established and patients began making lawsuits against asbestos producers.

One of the main driving factors that led to an increase in asbestos Lawyer lawsuits in the 1970s was a ruling by the courts that allowed plaintiffs to utilize the legal theory of strict liability. Plaintiffs in asbestos cases used to be required to prove that asbestos manufacturers were negligent in exposing them. However, in the 1973 case of Borel v. Fibreboard, a judge decided that asbestos manufacturers were responsible for any injuries they caused when the company knew their product was hazardous and failed to warn its employees or the general public about the dangers.

After the ruling, a number of asbestos producers filed for bankruptcy. This process allows a company, even if still in operation, to organize its affairs in bankruptcy court and place money into trusts to pay asbestos claimants. Johns-Manville was an especially notable case, since it was slammed with a variety of lawsuits from former workers who suffered from asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma. Kazan Law brought several cases against the manufacturer and was able obtain the company punitive damages in a number of cases.

Asbestos lawsuits have increased in the past few years because of the increasing number of asbestos-related diseases. Asbestos litigation is often complicated because the illnesses caused by asbestos can take years to manifest and aren't always apparent to those who are diagnosed.

In addition certain victims have been forced to wait for years to receive compensation from insurance companies after their employers were found to be liable. The US Supreme Court has dealt with a variety of cases involving class action settlements that asbestos companies offered as a way to limit their liability, and it has also considered the issue of whether it is possible to hold defendants accountable for asbestos-related injury.

The Fourth Case

Asbestos is a highly dangerous mineral that has caused the death or sickness of hundreds of thousands of people over the years. Asbestos was also used extensively by companies who were aware of its dangers, but continued to use it.

As the legal system deals with asbestos lawsuits and asbestos lawsuits, new developments take place constantly. One of the most significant legal developments is the ruling Lubbe v Cape Plc. This set a precedent allowing victims to sue multi-national companies in their home countries for compensation.

These cases often involve secondary exposure to asbestos. Workers who work with asbestos work can transfer it to their family members or spouses. The family members then suffer from mesothelioma and other asbestos-related illnesses.

Many lawsuits are filed by the families of victims of this type of case. Asbestos lawyers can aid families file a claim against the company that is responsible for their loved ones' asbestos-related injuries.

The rise of class action lawsuits is another major development in asbestos litigation. These asbestos lawsuits give victims the chance to seek justice through the assistance of an attorney well-versed in the legal issues these cases bring up.

While a lot of asbestos lawyers have advocated for this type of litigation, there are also those who are against it. In fact, there have been several attempts to pass legislation that would limit the use of asbestos-related class actions.

The most recent significant development in asbestos litigation was the filing of a lawsuit by Massachusetts residents against four companies concerning how they handled asbestos abatement and disposal. The lawsuit claimed that the companies violated state laws by not properly disposing of asbestos and exposing residents to the harmful dust.

Asbestos litigation is a long-standing problem that will likely persist for a number of decades to come. The asbestos industry has tried to shield itself from responsibility by bringing up technical legal arguments and by attempting to pass legislative remedies which would stop victims from seeking justice. But, it appears that a lot of victims and their attorneys are determined to get justice.