Mesothelioma

An Overview of Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma causes the protective lining or mesothelium that covers all the major body organs, to function abnormally and invade into the nearby main body organs like the heart, lungs or abdomen and damage them. There are mainly three types of mesothelioma – pleural mesothelioma, peritoneal mesothelioma and pericardial mesothelioma. Of the three types, pleural mesothelioma is the most common type that affects the lining of the lungs and is found to occur in human beings. The rarest malignant cancer is the pericardial mesothelioma which affects the lining around the heart. The peritoneal mesothelioma is found to affect the lining of the abdominal cavity. Continue reading “Mesothelioma”

If I have a potential product liability claim, do I have to pursue it immediately?

Potential Product Claim Defective Products

If I have a potential product liability claim, do I have to pursue it immediately?

You should. All states have some form of “statute of limitations,” which strictly limits the time you have to file a lawsuit. A valid claim filed after the statutory time period is usually denied. As a result, if you think that you may have been injured from a defective product, you should seek the advice of a product liability attorney at the earliest opportunity, to protect your rights.

The time frame in which the statute of limitations runs usually begins from the time of the injury resulting from the defect. However, most states have some form of a “delayed discovery” rule, which states that the statute does not begin to run until the injury was “discovered.” This may be important when the injury is not readily apparent, as in the “breast implant” cases, and cases involving exposure to hazardous materials (like asbestos), where the injuries were not discovered until years later. However, you’d want to go to a lawyer sooner, rather than later, to make sure your rights are protected.

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My spouse is dying from asbestosis. What happens to our family after he dies?

Asbestosis Family Death Injury Law

My spouse is dying from asbestosis. What happens to our family after he dies?

If your spouse has an asbestos lawsuit filed on his behalf before his death, his estate will take over the case and any damages will be awarded to the estate and divided among his survivors as would any other asset of the estate. Unless your spouse makes specific provisions in his will, most or all of the money will go to you as the surviving spouse. Depending on where you live, smaller amounts may be reserved to go to children directly.

Additionally, after your spouse dies, family members can institute a suit for wrongful death, seeking damages for loss of companionship, burial expenses, loss of economic benefit, and other losses related to your spouse’s death. Many of these damages are extremely subjective and putting a dollars and cents value is probably one of the most difficult tasks for the courts. There are many, many factors that must be taken into account to determine how much money to compensate an injured person. However, both the insurance companies and the courts have experience in determining how to value the loss of a relationship, how much your spouse could have contributed to the family wealth, and how much your emotional distress at watching your spouse die from asbestos exposure related complications is worth.

See our section on non-economic damages for more information.

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Am I eligible for workers’ compensation for asbestos exposure? Will my recovery in a civil lawsuit against the manufacturer of asbestos products affect my workers compensation claim for asbestos disease? Do I get to keep all the benefits?

Asbestos Workers Compensation Injury Law

Am I eligible for workers’ compensation for asbestos exposure? Will my recovery in a civil lawsuit against the manufacturer of asbestos products affect my workers compensation claim for asbestos disease? Do I get to keep all the benefits?

Workers’ compensation is only one way in which you can recover for asbestos exposure. You would institute a workers’ compensation case against your employer; however, there are other parties who may also be liable to you for the exposure.

Asbestos manufacturers and suppliers as well as the manufacturers of ineffective safety equipment have been held liable for asbestos exposure and the resulting damages. In addition, your family members, such as your spouse, may be able to institute an action for damages for loss of your companionship and damage to the relationship, loss of economic benefit and opportunity, and emotional distress.

Any recovery you or your family makes in a civil case should not affect the amount of your workers’ compensation benefits. In each case, you are being compensated for different types of liability or different types of damages.

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How much is my asbestos lawsuit worth? Is there a limit on how much I can collect?

Asbestos Lawsuit Worth Injury Law

How much is my asbestos lawsuit worth? Is there a limit on how much I can collect?

The value of a case is as much determined by the area in which the case is filed, as it is by the injuries involved. A jury in New York City or San Francisco, for instance, might award the same injured person a great deal more money than a jury in a small town in Tennessee or Iowa.

Two different juries, even in the same county, may react very differently. To arrive at a fair settlement, one needs to look at the strength of the case and amount of fault, the local practice and precedents (e.g., one is often likely to get more in a big city than a rural area as indicated above, rich state rather than a poor state), the severity of the injury and how long it will continue, the expense of litigation, how clear the tie is between the defendant and the injury/symptoms, how bad the defendant is and who it is, how much insurance there is, the reputation and experience of the lawyer and how well he or she negotiates, and how desperate the injured is to settle the case. There is also the subjective element: the sympathy of the jury, demeanor, the appearance of the injured, juror perceptions, makeup of the jury, and so forth.

Putting a dollars and cents amount on your injury can be extremely difficult. There is no set formula. There is no “typical amount.” Certainly, a person who incurs $200,000 in medical bills and ongoing coughing and heart problems because of asbestos has a better and more valuable case than another person who suffers $40,000 in medical bills but as yet has no respiratory failure. See our section on pain and suffering for more information.

A good attorney knows the law and the value of your asbestos claim.

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How long does an asbestos lawsuit take to settle or go to trial?

Asbestos Lawsuit Trial Injury Law

How long does an asbestos lawsuit take to settle or go to trial?

The volume of asbestos litigation has strained the resources of both state and Federal courts. Despite the litigation quagmire, asbestos lawsuits – if not settled – move expeditiously to trial in many states. Your lawyer will know how the courts in your state handle this type of lawsuit and the rules and procedures to quickly get an early trial date.

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What about the out-of-pocket expenses of asbestos litigation? Who fronts those expenses?

Asbestos Litigation Expenses Injury Law

What about the out-of-pocket expenses of asbestos litigation? Who fronts those expenses?

Each lawyer decides independently whether or not s/he will advance the expenses on your case, subject to his or her state’s law. The lawyer’s decision may depend on the nature and strength of your case, who the other party is, whether they have adequate insurance, and whether the lawyer has reason to expect that you will follow through with the matter, and not change your mind.

Expenses can include such things as court filing fees, the costs of obtaining records, transcripts of testimony, the costs of expert witnesses, investigative services and travel expenses. They can mount up. Generally the expenses will be deducted from your recovery if your case is successful. In some states the law requires you to repay the expenses out-of-pocket if you are unsuccessful.

By the way, your contingency fee may be calculated on the recovery before or after expenses. Therefore, the contingency fee agreement and expenses should be in writing. The client should always have all questions about the arrangement answered and settled before signing any contingency fee agreement.

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Can I sue for asbestosis on my own and avoid using a lawyer?

Asbestosis Lawsuit Injury Law

Can I sue for asbestosis on my own and avoid using a lawyer?

Although there are the exceptions that “prove the rule,” going solo does not make sense in an asbestos lawsuit because the matter is very serious and the amount of money involved is high. Getting a lawyer who specializes in asbestos law makes sense, particularly to help you wade through and develop the necessary information to file a successful suit as well as complying with the rules and procedures that courts have developed over the years for dealing with the volume of asbestos litigation. It can also be extremely difficult on your own to find out how you were exposed, where and when, and which companies to sue when your exposure took place decades earlier.

Furthermore, it is not wise to deal with the “other side” without legal representation since you would be negotiating in the blind, without any idea of what you may be entitled to recover. Bear in mind that the other side has been dealing with these claims far longer than you, has far more information than you, and knows the answers real well. And anything you say to the other side would be marked down and recorded and used against you in terms of the other side’s negotiating strategy and in trial if it ever got that far.

Trying to be your own lawyer rarely works, and the odds are 100 to 1 you’ll make a mistake and lose even what might have been a strong claim. It is in your best interest to contact a lawyer or a law firm who specializes in asbestos lawsuits.

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I am not sick but fear that eventually I will become ill from asbestos exposure. Do I have a case?

Not Sick Yet From Asbestos Exposure Injury Law

I am not sick but fear that eventually I will become ill from asbestos exposure. Do I have a case?

Not at this time. For you to recover damages for emotional distress for future illness, you have to be suffering from a current illness that may worsen. Being worried about future illness while you are still well does not rise to the level of emotional distress necessary for a lawsuit – many people are worried about becoming ill in the future, but they don’t have grounds to sue anyone based on that.

A recent United States Supreme Court case, Norfolk & Western Railway Co. v. Ayers, held that the plaintiffs, who were already sick with asbestosis from asbestos exposure, could also receive damages for emotional distress based on the fact that roughly 10% of patients with asbestosis develop, and die from, mesothelioma. The Court excluded those who had been exposed to asbestos but were not yet sick, stating that to do otherwise would be to open the claims up to unlimited and unpredictable numbers. The Court also found that there needed to be both a serious and genuine fear of developing a more serious disease, and that this might preclude liability on this issue in the future.

Therefore, since you are not currently suffering from any asbestos related illness, your best plan right now is to document any asbestos exposure that you suspect you have had, where you were exposed, and for how long.

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