Asbestos Lawsuit History

Many asbestos victims have been helped by lawyers like Stanley Levy. Patients suffering from mesothelioma and asbestos-related illnesses can sue companies that produced, mined, or used asbestos and asbestos-containing products.

Nellie Kershaw filed the first asbestos lawsuit. She worked in a plant that made asbestos fibers in England and developed health issues. She died at the age of 33 of fibrosis of the lung caused by asbestos exposure.

The First Cases

Asbestos is a dangerous mineral that has ill-treated or killed thousands of people over the course of time. Asbestos claims can be filed for many reasons, but they usually involve those who were exposed to asbestos at work. This can include workers at factories that produced asbestos-related products, people who worked on the construction of structures that contain asbestos, and even those who were exposed to secondhand asbestos attorneys from household products that were contaminated, like talcum powder.

People who were exposed to asbestos could be afflicted with a variety of illnesses, including mesothelioma and lung cancer, and other respiratory diseases. While some of these ailments are serious and may be fatal, many have been able to receive compensation for their injuries. This is because many countries have laws that require companies that create dangerous substances to warn those who could be hurt by them.

The first asbestos attorney lawsuit, filed in 1929, included a woman by the name of Anna Pirskowski. She was suffering from a number of ailments, including shortness of breath and the thickening of the fingertip tissue called clubbing. She received a settlement amounting to $75,000 in what is believed to be the first-ever class action lawsuit involving asbestos.

Asbest lawsuits continued to be filed in the years following. Asbestos litigation grew into a broad area of law and many attorneys began to specialize in asbestos litigation. They only accepted cases that were important. One company that took on this was Kazan Law, which in the latter half of the 1980s began to focus on bringing cases on behalf of mesothelioma patients.

Other lawsuits have been won by people who suffered from asbestos-related diseases, such as asbestosis and plaques in the pleural region. This is because the disease that caused these was like mesothelioma making it more straightforward for lawyers to prove. These claims led to the disclosure of secret documents that showed the ways asbestos product manufacturers attempted to hide their risks. This led to the Asbestos Ban and Phase Out Rule being announced in 1989.

The Second Cases

As the number diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases grew the families and victims began to file lawsuits. These lawsuits were brought against companies that mined asbestos, manufactured asbestos-containing products, or sold asbestos-containing goods. In addition, mesothelioma sufferers made claims against companies that designed and built the buildings where they worked like power plants, shipyards, factories and refineries. The link between asbestos exposure and mesothelioma development is strong.

By the early 1980s, the legal dispute over asbestos lawsuits began to get more intense and the courts ruled on many aspects of the litigation process. For instance a federal court ruled that only those suffering from malignant asbestos-related illness such as mesothelioma, or lung cancer are able to bring a lawsuit against the manufacturers of the asbestos products they employed. This ruling, known as Borel v. Fibreboard Paper Products Corp. was an important setback for asbestos plaintiffs.

At the same time, Nellie Kershaw from Rochdale in England was the first to file what is now seen as the first well-known lawsuit against asbestos companies. Kershaw, an employee in a factory in Rochdale, England, was diagnosed with lung problems caused by her close exposure to asbestos fibers in raw form. Kershaw tried to convince her employer to cover the cost of treatment. But, the company was unable to agree. Kershaw died at 33 years old from fibrosis of her lungs.

The second round of asbestos cases focused on those who worked in construction sites and were exposed to various types of asbestos-containing building materials such as fireproofing sprays, drywall products and textures. Asbestos lawyers also won lawsuits against companies who manufactured the equipment that used asbestos-containing products, such as boilers and pumps.

During this period, numerous documents that implicated asbestos companies were discovered. These documents showed their involvement in conspiracies and fraud. The documents included the personal files of Johns-Manville president Sumner Simpson, as well as correspondence from the general counsel for another asbestos producer, Raybestos Manhattan. These documents uncovered the conspiracy of these companies to cover up knowledge that asbestos was dangerous and to deflect efforts to inform the public of these dangers.

The discovery of these and other forms of corporate fraud and collusion in the early to mid-1980s led to a flurry of class action settlements and other attempts to limit asbestos liability for asbestos companies. These efforts were met with fierce opposition from plaintiffs' lawyers and their clients, as as the public in general.

The Third Cases

By the 1970s asbestos companies were no longer able to conceal the devastating effects of asbestos-related diseases such as mesothelioma from the public. This was due in large part to the fact that major national publications began paying attention to the link between mesothelioma, asbestos and other respiratory diseases, rather than small industry newsletters and medical journals. Once the links between asbestos and serious illnesses were established and patients began filing lawsuits against asbestos manufacturers.

In the 1970s, a decision by the courts that allowed plaintiffs the use of strict liability as a legal theory was one of the main reasons for an increase in asbestos lawsuits. In the past asbestos lawsuits, plaintiffs required proof that asbestos manufacturers were negligent in the way they caused their asbestos exposures. However, in the 1973 case of Borel v. Fibreboard, a judge ruled that asbestos manufacturers were liable for any injuries they caused if the company knew that their product was hazardous and did not inform its employees or the general public about the dangers.

Following this ruling, a lot of asbestos producers have filed for bankruptcy. This process allows a company, even if still in operation, to reorganize itself in bankruptcy court and to put money into trusts to pay asbestos claimants. Johns-Manville was an especially notable case, since it was the subject of numerous lawsuits brought by former factory workers who were suffering from asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma. Kazan Law set several cases against the manufacturer and was able to get punitive damage verdicts against the company.

Asbestos litigation has increased since then due to the growing number of asbestos-related diseases. Asbestos cases can be complicated due to the ailments they cause can take years to manifest themselves and are not always immediately evident to those who have been diagnosed.

In addition there have been cases where victims were forced to wait for years to receive compensation from insurance companies after their employers were found to be accountable. The US Supreme Court has dealt with numerous cases involving settlements for class actions that asbestos companies offered as a way to limit their liability, and it has also pondered the question of whether or not it is possible to hold defendants accountable for asbestos-related injury.

The Fourth Cases

Asbestos, a mineral which is extremely dangerous has killed and sickened hundreds of thousands of people over the decades. Asbestos was also widely used by manufacturers who knew it was dangerous however they continued to make use of it.

As the legal system deals asbestos lawsuits with a constant stream of new developments. One of the most significant legal developments is the ruling Lubbe v Cape Plc. This set the precedent for victims to sue multinational companies in their home countries to recover compensation.

Often, these cases involve exposure to asbestos in the second degree. Workers who work with asbestos work may pass it on to their family members or spouses. The family members then suffer from mesothelioma or other asbestos-related illnesses.

There are many lawsuits filed today by the families of victims based on this kind of case. Asbestos attorneys can help families bring a case against the responsible parties for the asbestos-related injuries suffered by their loved family members.

Another big change in asbestos litigation is the increase in class action lawsuits. These asbestos lawsuits provide victims the opportunity to pursue justice with the help of an attorney well-versed in the legal issues these cases present.

While many asbestos attorneys have advocated for this type of lawsuit, there are some who oppose it. There have been several attempts at passing legislation to limit the use class actions in asbestos lawsuits.

The most recent significant advancement in asbestos litigation was the filing of a lawsuit by Massachusetts residents against four companies over the way they dealt with asbestos abatement and disposal. The lawsuit alleged that the companies had violated the law of the state by not properly disposing of asbestos and failing to safeguard residents from harmful dust.

Asbestos litigation has been a long-running issue that is likely to continue for a number of decades to come. The asbestos industry has tried to avoid liability through technical legal arguments and by trying to pass legislative remedies which would hinder victims from seeking justice. It seems that many victims, and their lawyers, are determined to see justice done.