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Asbestos Litigation
Each asbestos case is unique however, the general procedure for defending against claims based on asbestos is the same. Your attorney will want you to conduct an interview with the plaintiff.
The exposure of a person to asbestos can come from multiple sources, not just a single employer or company. This is why asbestos cases typically involve multiple defendants.
Determining the Source of Exposure
The identification of asbestos exposure is an important step to file an asbestos claim. Often, victims' attorneys may use medical documents to determine the source of asbestos. This can assist victims in receiving compensation from the companies responsible for their asbestos exposure.
Mesothelioma victims and their families need compensation to cover expensive mesothelioma treatment. Compensation can assist families in dealing with emotional stress with a mesothelioma diagnoses.
Asbestos cases are complex legal cases. The victims must be aware of their rights and the procedure. Attorneys are able to handle many aspects of a case they are expected to be involved in the case. This includes responding to requests for discovery and taking depositions.
Be aware that the statutes are limited in New York, and you should seek advice from an asbestos lawyer (https://Historydb.date) as soon a possible. If you fail to submit your claim within the specified time period you could be unable to collect on financial compensation.
In some cases asbestos-containing products manufactured by multiple companies have been used to expose victims. In these instances, lawyers representing the victims have to determine the source of all asbestos-containing products as well as the employers and contractors who supplied the asbestos-containing products.
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 established trust funds for asbestos victims. But asbestos defendants continue to dispute evidence linking asbestos exposure to mesothelioma lung cancer, or other respiratory illnesses. This is despite research by doctors such as Dr. Irving J. Selikoff and Dr. Jacob Churg, and Dr. E. Cuyler Hammond among others.
The process of creating an Database
A lawsuit involving asbestos-related illnesses or mesothelioma is distinct from a typical personal injury lawsuit. In many cases, asbestos litigation involves many of the same defendants (companies who are being sued), many of the same law firms that represent plaintiffs and many of the same expert witnesses.
To build a viable defense in a case involving asbestos, attorneys must have access to a comprehensive database that can identify potential exposure sources. This includes looking over the websites of employers, speaking with coworkers and collecting information from suppliers and employers. This involves finding and interviewing nurses or doctors who might be able to 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 the course of time. When this occurs it may require the reconstruction of a complete claims database as well as an insurance program, usually from multiple sources like loss runs, claim files, internal systems and defense counsel records. It could take years, or years to complete.
Asbestos lawyers should also have access to a program that allows them to find potential exposure areas and identify potential defendants. Lawyers can save time and money by having this information available to them.
After the collapse of several asbestos producers, plaintiffs' lawyers looked for 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 defendants
The actual basis of asbestos cases is often established through discovery. Asbestos companies have denied for a number of years that their products could cause harm, but once the lawsuits began, documents from the company exposed evidence of the dangers. These documents can be used to prove that particular defendants products caused injuries. To win a case, a plaintiff must demonstrate that the defendant's product was in use at the workplace and that they were exposed to it by inhaling dust and that the exposure to the dust was a major factor in his injuries.
Asbestos cases typically involve several defendants. The process of identifying them is different from a personal injury lawsuit. By interviewing family and coworkers members, looking over invoices and work orders, obtaining documents from suppliers and vendors, and analyzing asbestos samples taken from the plaintiff's workplace and home, it is possible to create a database that links employers, locations, and products. It is also possible to identify defendants if you know the type of asbestos like amosite or chrysotile.
Defendants must carefully review these facts and pinpoint all possible sources of exposure. This can involve a examination of more than 40 years of a person's life through Social Security, union, tax and other records. Because the time lag for asbestos-related injuries is long, establishing an accurate database requires a lot of time and costly discovery.
Due to the huge number of asbestos cases and the limited resources of many defendants in federal courts, many asbestos cases will be referred to a multi-district lawsuit (MDL). This allows defendants to share their resources and avoid duplication of discovery.
The process of creating a case
Asbestos lawsuits involve extensive investigation and the review of numerous documents. This can be a particularly difficult job, as asbestos exposure is often a long time before the victim becomes ill. In order to identify the sources of the exposure, attorneys must conduct interviews and look over hundreds of pages of documentation such as the employment records, union documents, social security and tax records as well as medical and laboratory reports.
The lawyers representing the plaintiffs must do all they can to find additional defendants. In some cases, there can be as many as 40 defendants. To achieve this, they must look further down the supply chain and research entities with a possible nexus to asbestos, but have not been named in the lawsuit.
This process is often very long and time-consuming, particularly when the claimant suffers from mesothelioma and other severe illnesses. In addition, it can be often difficult to find witnesses and get physical evidence.
A mesothelioma attorney will work to establish all potential defendants and their connections to the victim's exposure. This could require a thorough review of over 40 years of the victim's life through interviews as well as a review of their social security, union, and tax records.
A successful asbestos litigation strategy requires extensive experience in this tangled legal field. Since the time we were founded back in 1994, McGivney, Kluger, Clark & Intoccia has been at the forefront in asbestos litigation and is a leading firm in the country in defending businesses in multi-jurisdictional, global litigation. We serve as National Coordinating Counsel and liaison counsel in representing and managing the interests of many different defendants, including manufacturers of products distributors, suppliers, and contractors. We have extensive experience in developing and establishing key defenses including expert witness testimony, jurisdictional Case Management Orders.
Preparing for trial
Lawyers must be careful in preparing their cases prior to trial to ensure that their clients' evidence and arguments are as strong as they can be. This includes reviewing medical records and making sure that all witnesses are prepared. It also involves identifying the exhibits that will be used at the trial. This process can be years long in complex cases.
Many asbestos sufferers develop a less severe disease like asbestosis, pleural plaque or fibrosis before the mesothelioma's development. Asbestosis can cause coughing, chest pain, and breathing problems.
asbestos attorneys victims' lawyers must also carefully review the evidence to determine any potential defendants who could be held accountable for the asbestos-related injuries. This includes speaking with coworkers, family, asbestos abatement workers and asbestos manufacturers, as well as getting various documents.
After a lawyer has identified a defendant, they must then determine the liability of the person. The defendants can be businesses, individuals or government agencies. They are accountable for their negligent actions.
Congress has enacted a number of legislative solutions to end asbestos lawsuits. The efforts have not been effective due to a myriad of complex political factors. Asbestos victims and their lawyers are determined to hold negligent asbestos companies accountable for their actions.
The law firm of Waters Kraus & Paul has handled hundreds of cases throughout New York state and across the country. Our attorneys have held manufacturers, insurance companies and other responsible parties accountable for their role in the asbestos exposure. In Upstate New York asbestos litigation is divided into five judicial districts, which are assigned cases by judges who have expertise in asbestos matters.
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, as well as at winter and annual conventions.