asbestos lawyer Litigation

Each asbestos case is unique however the process for defending such claims is the same. Your attorney should conduct a deposition with the plaintiff.

The source of asbestos exposure could be numerous, not just one company or employer. This is the reason asbestos cases usually involve multiple defendants.

Identifying the source of exposure

In order to file an asbestos claim, it is crucial to pinpoint asbestos exposure. Attorneys for victims can often make use of medical records to determine asbestos' source. This can help victims get compensation from the companies that are responsible for their asbestos exposure.

Mesothelioma victims and their families are entitled to compensation to cover expensive mesothelioma treatments. Compensation can help families cope when a mesothelioma diagnosis is announced.

Asbestos lawsuits can be a complicated legal cases, and 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 plaintiffs are expected to take part in their own case. This includes responding to discovery requests and attending court depositions.

Remember that the statutes of limitations are restricted in New York, and you should consult an asbestos attorney as soon a possible. Failing to file an asbestos claim within the proper time frame could result in the loss on financial compensation.

In some instances, victims have been exposed to asbestos-containing products produced by several companies. In these cases, the victims lawyers may be required to identify the companies that made each product, in addition to the contractors or employers who supplied asbestos lawyers-containing materials.

Asbestos litigation is the longest-running mass tort in American history. It has been responsible for numerous bankruptcy filings from asbestos producers. Many of these companies have established trust funds for asbestos victims. Yet asbestos defendants continue to deny the evidence linking asbestos exposure to mesothelioma or lung cancer. This is despite research conducted by doctors like Dr. Irving J. Selikoff Dr. Jacob Churg, and Dr. E. Cuyler Hammond, among others.

Making an Database

A lawsuit involving asbestos-related diseases or mesothelioma differs from a typical personal injury case. In a lot of asbestos litigation cases, plaintiffs are represented by same law firms as well as the same expert witnesses.

To be able to build a successful asbestos defense, lawyers need to have access to a vast database that can pinpoint potential exposure sources. This involves reviewing the work site, speaking with coworkers and getting documents from suppliers and employers. The process also requires finding and interviewing doctors and nurses who can testify about asbestos exposure.

Developing this type of database can be a challenge particularly in situations where the data was lost or destroyed over the course of time. In these cases it could be necessary to recreate a complete insurance program and claims database using multiple sources like loss runs, claim files, internal system and defense counsel records. This could take a number of years or even years to complete.

Asbestos lawyers also need access to a program that allows them to locate potential exposure sites and to identify potential defendants. Attorneys can cut down on time and money by having this information at their fingertips.

Following the massive bankruptcies of asbestos producers, plaintiffs' lawyers sought new defendants to list in their lawsuits. As a result of this, asbestos cases in West Virginia are now defined by triannual consolidated trials groups in which volume is the king and lawsuits naming less than 100 defendants is rare.

Identifying the defendants

The factual foundation of asbestos attorneys lawsuits is often established through discovery. Many asbestos companies have denied for years that their products could harm people, but once lawsuits began, company documents were discovered to provide evidence of the dangers. These documents can be used to prove that particular products of the defendant caused injuries. In order to win a lawsuit a plaintiff has to prove that the defendant's product were used in his work place, that he breathed in dust from the product and that the exposure was a major reason for his injuries.

Asbestos cases typically involve multiple defendants. The method of identifying them is different from a personal injury case. The key is to develop an information database that links employers, locations and products by interviewing co-workers and relatives as well as reviewing invoices and work orders and obtaining documents from suppliers and vendors and analyzing samples taken from the plaintiff's home as well as employment websites. The type of asbestos involved - amosite, chrysotile or Crocidolite - could be useful in identifying defendants since each product is made by an individual manufacturer.

Defendants must carefully review these facts and identify the possible sources of exposure, which can involve a examination of more than 40 years of a worker's existence through Social Security, union, tax and other documents. Because the latency of asbestos-related injuries is so long, creating an accurate database requires a lot of time and costly research.

Due to the huge number of cases and the limited resources of many defendants, many asbestos cases are referred to multi-district litigation (MDL) in federal courts. This allows defendants to share their resources and reduce duplication of discovery.

The process of creating a case

Asbestos suits require extensive study and examination of many documents. This can be a particularly difficult task because asbestos exposure can occur years before the person who suffers from illness. In order to identify the sources of exposure, lawyers must conduct interviews and go through hundreds of pages of documentation such as the employment records, union documents social security and tax files, and medical and laboratory reports.

The attorneys representing the plaintiffs must do their best to locate additional defendants. In many instances, the number of defendants can be as high as 30 or 40. To do so they need to look further down the supply chain and look into organizations that could have a connection to asbestos, but have not been identified in the lawsuit.

This process can be very long and time-consuming, particularly when the plaintiff is suffering from mesothelioma and other severe diseases. It can be difficult to find witnesses and gather physical evidence.

An attorney for mesothelioma will try to establish all potential defendants and their connection to the victim's exposure. This may require a thorough examination of over 40 years of the victim's history through interviews as well as a review of their social security, union, and tax records.

A successful asbestos litigation strategy relies on extensive experience in a tangled area of law. At McGivney, Kluger, Clark & Intoccia, we have been at the forefront of asbestos litigation since our inception at the beginning of 1994. We are also nationally recognized as leaders in the 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 wide variety of defendants, including distributors, manufacturers, and contractors. We have extensive experience in developing and establishing key defenses as well as expert witness testimony and jurisdictional Case Management Orders.

Prepare for Trial

Lawyers must be careful in preparing their cases for trial in order to ensure that their clients' arguments and evidence are the strongest they can be. This involves reviewing medical records and making sure that all witnesses are prepared. It also involves identifying exhibits that will be used at the trial. This process can take a long time in cases that are complex.

Many asbestos sufferers have a less severe illness such as asbestosis, the pleural plaque or fibrosis, prior to the development of mesothelioma. Asbestosis symptoms can include tightening of the lungs that could cause breathing problems, coughing, chest pain and so on.

Asbestos victims' attorneys must also examine the evidence to determine any potential defendants who could be held accountable for the asbestos injuries. This includes speaking with family members, colleagues asbestos abatement workers, asbestos attorneys abatement experts and asbestos manufacturers, and getting various documents.

Once an attorney has identified a possible defendant, they need to determine the liability of that party. The defendants may be individuals, companies or government agencies. They must be held responsible for their negligent acts.

Congress has offered a variety of 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 remain determined to hold negligent asbestos companies accountable for their actions.

Waters Kraus & Paul is an attorney firm that has handled hundreds cases in New York State and across the country. Our lawyers have held asbestos producers insurance companies, asbestos manufacturers, 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 welcomes all AAJ members including life, regular, sustainer, and President's Club members. Members of the Asbestos Litigation Group network and discuss legal issues strategies, as well as at winter and annual conventions.