20 Myths About Asbestos Litigation: Debunked

Asbestos Litigation

Each asbestos case is distinct, but the general process to defend these claims is the same. Your attorney will want to take a deposition of the plaintiff.

A person's exposure to asbestos can come from many places, not just one employer or company. This is the reason asbestos cases usually involve multiple defendants.

Determining the Source of Exposure

In order to make an asbestos claim, it is essential to determine the source of asbestos exposure. Often, the attorneys of victims can work with medical records to determine the cause of asbestos. This can assist victims in obtaining compensation from the companies responsible for their asbestos exposure.

Compensation is needed by mesothelioma patients as well as their families to pay for the cost of expensive treatment. Compensation can help families cope with the mesothelioma diagnosis.

Asbestos lawsuits can be a complicated legal proceedings, and the victims need to understand their rights and the way in which the process operates. While attorneys are able to handle a variety of aspects of a case they are expected to be involved in the case. This includes responding to requests for discovery and attending depositions.

Be aware that the statutes are restricted in New York, and you must consult an asbestos attorney as soon a possible. If you fail to submit your claim within the specified time period you could be denied on financial compensation.

In some instances, victims were exposed to asbestos-containing products made by multiple companies. In these cases, the victims lawyers might need to identify the manufacturer of each product, as well as the contractors or employers who supplied the asbestos law and litigation-containing products.

Asbestos litigation has been the longest-running mass tort in American history. It has been the cause of numerous bankruptcy filings by asbestos manufacturers. Many of these companies have established trust funds for asbestos victims. However, asbestos defendants continue to challenge evidence linking mesothelioma and asbestos exposure lung cancer or other respiratory diseases. This is in spite of the research of doctors like Dr. Irving J. Selikoff and Dr. Jacob Churg.

Making a Database

A mesothelioma lawsuit or other asbestos-related illnesses is different from any typical personal injury lawsuit. In many asbestos litigation cases, plaintiffs are represented by the same law firms and the same expert witnesses.

To develop a successful asbestos defense, lawyers need to have access to an extensive database that can pinpoint potential exposure sources. This involves reviewing the work site, speaking with coworkers, and obtaining documents from employers and suppliers. The process also involves tracking down and interviewing nurses and doctors who are able to testify about asbestos exposure.

This kind of database can be difficult to create, particularly when the data has been lost over time. If this happens it could necessitate the reconstruction of an entire claims database and insurance program, usually from multiple sources like loss runs claims files, internal systems, and defense counsel records. This can take years, or even years, to complete.

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

After the bankruptcy of many asbestos producers, plaintiffs' lawyers searched for new defendants to 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 rare.

Identifying the defendants

The majority of asbestos cases are founded on factual evidence that is discovered. Asbestos companies denied for many years that their products could cause harm, but once the lawsuits began the company's documents revealed evidence of the dangers. These documents can be used to prove that certain products of the defendants caused injuries. In order to win a lawsuit a plaintiff has to prove that the defendant's product were used in his workplace, and that he inhaled dust from the product and that exposure to the product was a major factor in his injuries.

Since asbestos cases have multiple defendants, asbestos law & Litigation the process of identifying defendants is different from the typical personal injury case. The key is to develop a database linking employers, locations and products through interviews with co-workers and relatives, reviewing work orders and invoices, obtaining documents from suppliers and vendors, and analyzing samples from the plaintiff's home and workplace sites. The type of asbestos used such as amosite, chrysotile or crocidolite - is helpful in identifying defendants as each product is produced by a different manufacturer.

Defendants must carefully examine these facts and identify all possible exposure sources. This may include a look at more than 40 years of records from the Social Security, tax, union and other records of the worker. Due to the long latency of asbestos-related injuries, it's difficult and costly to build an accurate database.

Due to the sheer number of cases and limited resources of defendants Many asbestos law and litigation cases are transferred to multi-district litigation (MDL) specializes in asbestos litigation federal courts. This practice allows defendants to share their resources and avoid the duplication of discovery.

Case Development

Asbestos lawsuits require a lot of research and the review of a large number of documents. This can be particularly challenging because asbestos exposure often occurred years before a victim was diagnosed with a disease. To identify the sources of exposure, lawyers need to conduct interviews and look over the thousands of pages of documents like union documents, employment records social security and tax files as well as medical and laboratory reports.

The lawyers representing the plaintiffs must also do everything they can to locate other defendants. In many cases, the number of defendants can be as high as 30 or 40. To achieve this, they have to examine the supply chain to find companies that could have a link to asbestos, but aren't mentioned in the lawsuit.

This process can be very time-consuming, especially if the claimant has mesothelioma or other serious illnesses. It is also difficult to locate witnesses and gather physical evidence.

A mesothelioma lawyer will determine all potential defendants, asbestos law & litigation and their relationship to victim's exposure. This could include a thorough examination of the last 40 years of the victim's life, which may include interviews as well as a review of their social security and union, as well as tax records.

A successful asbestos exposure litigation litigation strategy requires extensive experience in this complex legal field. Since its inception in 1994, McGivney, Kluger, Clark & Intoccia has been at the forefront of asbestos litigation and is a leader in the nation in the defense of companies in multi-jurisdictional, global litigation. We serve as 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 formulating and drafting crucial defenses including expert testimony, jurisdictional Case Management Orders.

Prepare for Trial

Lawyers must carefully prepare their cases prior to trial so that their clients are able to present the strongest arguments and evidence possible. 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 years in complicated cases.

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

Lawyers for asbestos victims must also carefully review the evidence to determine potential defendants who might be accountable for the asbestos-related injuries. This includes speaking with coworkers, family asbestos abatement workers, asbestos abatement employees and asbestos manufacturers, and gathering various documents.

Once an attorney has identified a defendant, they need to determine the liability of that party. The defendants may be individuals, corporations or governmental agencies. They are accountable for their wrongful actions.

A variety of legislative solutions to end asbestos litigation have been suggested in Congress. However, these efforts have failed due to a variety of complicated political motives. Asbestos victims and their lawyers remain determined to hold negligent asbestos companies accountable for their actions.

Waters Kraus & Paul is an attorney firm that has handled a variety of cases in New York State and across the country. Our attorneys have held asbestos manufacturers insurance companies, asbestos manufacturers, and other responsible parties accountable. In Upstate New York, asbestos litigation is concentrated in five judicial districts where cases are assigned to judges familiar with asbestos-related issues.

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 annual and winter conventions, and in educational seminars on Asbestos Law & Litigation litigation.