The Most Convincing Evidence That You Need Asbestos Litigation

Asbestos Litigation

Each asbestos case is unique, but the general process for defending such claims is similar. Your attorney will want you to conduct depositions of the plaintiff.

The exposure of an individual to asbestos can be triggered by many places, not just an employer or a company. This is why asbestos cases typically involve multiple defendants.

Determining the Source of Exposure

In order to file an asbestos claim, it is important to identify asbestos exposure. Often, victims' attorneys can work with medical records to determine the source of asbestos. This could help victims receive compensation from the companies that are responsible for their asbestos exposure.

Compensation is required by mesothelioma patients and their families to cover the expense of expensive treatment. Compensation can also assist families in dealing with the emotional burdens of mesothelioma being diagnosed.

Asbestos cases are complex legal cases. Victims must be aware of their rights and procedures. While attorneys can handle many aspects of a case victims are expected to participate in their own case. This includes responding to requests for discovery and attending depositions.

Be aware that the statutes are restricted in New York, and you should seek advice from an asbestos lawyer as soon as you can. If you don't submit your claim within the stipulated timeframe you could be denied on financial compensation.

In some instances asbestos-containing products produced by multiple companies have been used to expose victims. In these instances, victims' attorneys will have to determine the source of all asbestos-containing products, and the contractors and employers who supplied the asbestos lawsuit-containing products.

Asbestos litigation is the longest-running mass tort of American history. It's the cause of numerous bankruptcy filings from asbestos manufacturers. Many of these companies have set up trust funds to pay compensation to asbestos victims. But asbestos defendants continue to challenge evidence that links asbestos exposure and mesothelioma, lung cancer or other respiratory diseases. This is despite research 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), 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 be able to access a large database that can identify possible exposure sources. This includes reviewing the job site, talking to coworkers and getting documents from employers and suppliers. This involves locating and interviewing nurses or doctors who may be able be able to testify about asbestos exposure.

Making this kind of database can be difficult particularly in situations where the data has been lost or destroyed over time. When this happens, it can necessitate the reconstruction of a complete claims database as well as an insurance program, often from multiple sources like loss runs and claim files, internal systems and defense counsel records. This can take many years or even decades to complete.

Asbestos lawyers must also have access to a software that allows them to find potential exposure areas and identify potential defendants. The information that is at the fingertips of lawyers can save time and money.

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 where the volume is paramount and suits naming fewer than 100 defendants are rare.

Identifying Defendants

Most asbestos lawsuits are based on evidence based on facts that are discovered. Asbestos companies denied for many years that their products could cause harm, but once lawsuits began the company's documents revealed evidence of the dangers. These documents can aid plaintiffs prove that specific defendants products caused their injuries. In order to win a lawsuit a plaintiff has to demonstrate that the defendant's products were used in his workplace, that he inhaled dust from the product and that exposure to the product was a major reason for his injuries.

Asbestos cases often involve several defendants. The process of identifying them is different from a personal injury case. By interviewing family and coworkers members, looking over invoices and work orders, getting documents from vendors and suppliers and analyzing asbestos samples from the plaintiff's workplace as well as home it is possible to build a database that links employers, locations, and products. The type of asbestos lawsuit involved such as amosite, chrysotile or crocidolite - can also be helpful in identifying defendants because each product is made by an individual manufacturer.

The defendants are required to thoroughly look over these facts and determine all possible exposure sources. This may include a review of over 40 years of records from Social Security, tax, union and other documents of a worker. Because the time lag for asbestos-related injuries is so long, the creation of an accurate database is a lengthy and costly investigation.

Due to the sheer number of cases and the insufficient resources of many defendants asbestos cases are often transferred to multi-district litigation (MDL) in federal courts. This practice allows defendants the opportunity to share resources, and also avoid duplicate discovery.

Developing a Case

Asbestos suits require extensive research and the examination of numerous documents. This can be a difficult task, since asbestos lawsuit exposure often occurs years before the person who suffers from illness. To determine the source of the asbestos exposure, lawyers must conduct interviews and go through thousands of pages of documents including employment records and union documents as well as tax files, social security files, medical and laboratory reports.

The lawyers representing the plaintiffs have to do everything they can to find additional defendants. In many instances, the number of defendants could be as high as 30 or 40. To achieve this, they must look down the supply chain to look into companies that could have a connection with asbestos, but aren't included in the lawsuit.

This process is time-consuming, especially when the claimant suffers from mesothelioma, or other serious illnesses. In addition, it is often difficult to locate witnesses and to obtain physical evidence.

An attorney for mesothelioma will try to identify all defendants and their connection to the victim's exposure. This could involve a thorough review over the past 40 years of the victim's life, including interviews and a look at their social security and union, as well as tax records.

A successful asbestos litigation strategy depends on a wealth of experience in a complicated area of law. At McGivney, Kluger, Clark & Intoccia we have been at the forefront of asbestos litigation since the time of our establishment in 1994 and are national leaders in defending businesses involved in industry-wide multi-jurisdictional litigation. We are the National Coordinating Counsel, and liaison counsel. We represent and coordinate the interests of a broad array of defendants, which includes distributors, manufacturers and contractors. We have a wealth of experience developing and establishing key defenses as well as expert witness testimony and jurisdictional Case Management Orders.

Prepare for trial

Lawyers must carefully prepare their cases for trial in order to ensure that their clients' evidence and arguments are as strong as they can be. This involves reviewing medical records and making sure that all witnesses are prepared. It also involves identifying the exhibits that will be used in the trial. This can take a lot of time in cases that are complex.

Before developing mesothelioma asbestos patients develop a lesser disease, such as asbestosis or pleural fibrosis or pleural plaque. Asbestosis can cause coughing, chest pain, and difficulty breathing.

Lawyers for asbestos victims should also review the evidence to identify potential defendants who might be accountable for the asbestos-related harms. This includes interviewing family members, colleagues, asbestos abatement workers and asbestos manufacturers, in addition to getting various documents.

Once a defendant has been identified, an attorney must determine the responsibility of this party. The defendants can be businesses, individuals or government agencies. They must be held responsible for their actions that were negligent.

Congress has proposed several legislative solutions to end asbestos lawsuits. These efforts have not been successful due to a variety of complicated political factors. Asbestos victims and their lawyers are determined to hold negligent asbestos companies accountable for their actions.

Waters Kraus & Paul is a law firm that has handled hundreds 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 centralized in five judicial districts in which cases are assigned to judges familiar with asbestos matters.

The Asbestos Litigation Group is open to AAJ Regular Life, 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.