Its History Of Asbestos Litigation
Asbestos Litigation
Each asbestos case is unique, but the general procedure for defending against claims based on asbestos is the same. Your attorney should take a deposition of the plaintiff.
The exposure of an individual to asbestos can come from numerous sources, not only an employer or a company. This is the reason asbestos cases typically involve multiple defendants.
Determine the source of exposure
To make an asbestos claim, it is essential to determine the source of asbestos exposure. Often, attorneys representing victims may use medical records to determine the cause of asbestos. This can help victims receive compensation from the companies liable for asbestos exposure.
Mesothelioma sufferers and their families are entitled to compensation to cover the cost of mesothelioma-related treatment. Compensation can help families cope emotionally with a mesothelioma diagnoses.
Asbestos cases are a complex legal cases. Victims need to know their rights and procedures. While attorneys are able to handle a variety of aspects of a case, the victims are expected to be involved in their case as well. This includes responding promptly to requests for discovery and attending court depositions.
Be aware that the statutes are restricted in New York, and you should consult an asbestos attorney (browse this site) immediately if you are able to. Failure to file a claim within the appropriate timeframe could result in missing out on financial compensation.
In some instances asbestos-containing products manufactured by multiple companies have been used to expose victims. In these cases, the victims' attorneys may need to identify the manufacturer of each product, as well as the employers or contractors who supplied the asbestos-containing products.
Asbestos lawsuits are the longest-running mass tort in American history. It's the cause of numerous bankruptcy filings by asbestos manufacturers. Many of these companies have established trust funds for asbestos lawyer 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 such as Dr. Irving J. Selikoff and Dr. Jacob Churg, and Dr. E. Cuyler Hammond, among others.
The process of creating a Database
A mesothelioma lawsuit or other asbestos-related illnesses is different from any typical personal injury case. In many asbestos litigation cases, the plaintiffs are represented by the same law firms as well as the same expert witnesses.
To build a strong defense in a case involving asbestos, attorneys must have access to a vast database that can pinpoint potential exposure sources. This includes reviewing the websites of employers, speaking with coworkers and getting records from employers and suppliers. This also involves the search for and interviewing doctors and nurses who can testify about asbestos exposure.
Developing this type of database can be difficult particularly when the data has been lost or destroyed over the course of time. In these instances it could be necessary to reconstruct an entire insurance program and claims database using multiple sources such as loss runs and claim files internal system and defense counsel records. This could take a number of years or even decades to complete.
Asbestos lawyers must also access to a software that permits them to find potential defendants and potential exposure sites. Having this information available to attorneys can save both valuable time and money.
After the bankruptcy of many asbestos producers, plaintiffs' attorneys sought out new defendants for their lawsuits. In the wake of this asbestos cases in West Virginia are now defined by triannual consolidated trials groups in which volume is the king and suits that name less than 100 defendants is a rarity.
Identifying the defendants
The truthful basis of asbestos cases is usually established through discovery. Many asbestos companies resisted for decades that their products could cause harm to people, but once lawsuits began, company documents were discovered to provide evidence of the dangers. These documents can be used to prove that specific defendants products caused injuries. To win a case a plaintiff must demonstrate that the defendant's product was in use at his work site, that he was exposed to it inhaling dust and that exposure was a significant cause of his injuries.
Because asbestos cases have multiple defendants, the method of identifying defendants is different than the typical personal injury case. Through interviews with coworkers and family members, looking over invoices and work orders, obtaining documents from suppliers and vendors, and analyzing asbestos samples collected from the plaintiff's workplace and home it is possible to create an information database that connects employers, locations, and products. It is also possible to identify defendants if one knows the type of asbestos, such as chrysotile or amosite.
Defendants must carefully examine these facts and determine the possible sources of exposure. This may include a review of over 40 years of records from the Social Security, tax, union and other records of a worker. Because the time between asbestos injuries is so long, the creation of an accurate database is a lengthy and costly research.
Due to the huge number of cases and limited resources of defendants asbestos cases are often transferred to multi-district litigation (MDL) in federal courts. This practice allows defendants to share their resources and avoid duplicate discovery.
Making a Case
Asbestos suits require extensive study and examination of many documents. This can be a difficult job, as asbestos lawyer exposure often occurs years before a person is diagnosed with a disease. To identify the source of asbestos exposure, lawyers must conduct interviews and go through thousands of pages of documents like union and employment records, tax files and social security files, medical and laboratory reports.
The lawyers representing the plaintiffs must also do everything they can to find other defendants. In many instances, the number of defendants can be as high as 30 or 40. To do this, they need to examine the supply chain to look into companies that could have a link to asbestos but who are not named in the lawsuit.
This process can be very long, particularly if the claimant has mesothelioma or any other serious illness. It can be difficult to find witnesses and collect physical evidence.
A mesothelioma attorney will work to determine the identity of all defendants and their connection to the victim's exposure. This could be a thorough analysis of the last 40 years of the victim's life, including interviews and a review their social security, labor, union and tax records.
A successful asbestos litigation strategy requires extensive knowledge of this complicated area of law. Since our founding back in 1994, McGivney, Kluger, Clark & Intoccia has been at the forefront of asbestos litigation and is a leading firm in the country in the defense of companies in multi-jurisdictional, industry-wide litigation. We serve as National Coordinating Counsel and liaison counsel in representing and managing the interests of many different defendants including product manufacturers distributors, suppliers, and contractors. We have extensive expertise in creating and establishing key defenses, expert witness testimony and jurisdictional Case Management Orders.
Prepare for Trial
Lawyers must meticulously prepare their cases for trial in order to ensure that their clients' arguments and evidence are as strong as they can be. This involves reviewing medical records and preparing all witnesses. It also involves identifying the exhibits that will be used at the trial. This process can be lengthy in cases that are complex.
Before developing mesothelioma asbestos patients develop a lesser disease such as asbestosis, and pleural plaque. Asbestosis symptoms include a tightening of the lungs that can cause breathing difficulties, coughing, chest pain and so on.
Asbestos victims' attorneys must also scrutinize the evidence to identify any potential defendants that could be held liable for the asbestos injuries. This includes interviewing coworkers or family members, asbestos manufacturers, asbestos abatement workers and obtaining a variety.
After a lawyer has identified a defendant, they need to determine the liability of that party. The defendants could be individuals, corporations or governmental agencies. They are accountable for their wrongful actions.
Congress has offered a variety of legislative solutions to end asbestos lawsuits. However, these efforts have not been successful due to a variety of complicated political motives. Asbestos victims and their lawyers are still determined to hold negligent asbestos companies accountable for their actions.
Waters Kraus & Paul is an attorney firm that has handled hundreds of cases in New York State and across the country. Our attorneys have held manufacturers, insurance companies, and other responsible parties accountable for their involvement in asbestos exposure. In Upstate New York, asbestos litigation is concentrated in five judicial districts, where cases are assigned to judges that are experienced with asbestos-related issues.
The Asbestos Litigation Group is open to AAJ Regular, Life, Sustaining and President's Club members. Members of the Asbestos Litigation Group network and discuss legal issues, strategies, and at winter and annual conventions.