Asbestos Lawsuit History

Lawyers such as Stanley Levy have helped many asbestos victims. Patients suffering from asbestos-related diseases, such as mesothelioma, are able to sue companies that mined asbestos, made or used asbestos.

The first asbestos lawsuit was filed by Nellie Kershaw. She worked in a factory that made asbestos fibers in England and was diagnosed with health issues. She passed away at the age of 33 of fibrosis of the lung caused by asbestos exposure.

The First Cases

Asbestos is a dangerous mineral that has afflicted or killed thousands of people over the years. Asbestos claims can be filed for a variety of reasons, but they usually involve people who were exposed to asbestos at work. This includes workers at factories that produced asbestos-related products, people who worked on the construction of buildings with asbestos, or who were exposed to secondhand asbestos from household products that were contaminated, such as talcum powder.

People who were exposed to asbestos could develop a variety of diseases including mesothelioma, lung cancer, and other respiratory diseases. Many people have been awarded compensation for their injuries even though some these diseases can be fatal. This is largely because most countries have laws that require companies who create dangerous substances to warn people who might be hurt by them.

The first asbestos lawsuit was filed in 1929. It included a woman named Anna Pirskowski. She was suffering from a number of ailments, including breathlessness and thickening of the fingertip tissue also known as clubbing. She received a settlement worth $75,000 in what is believed to be a first class action lawsuit that involved asbestos.

In the years following, more and more asbestos lawsuits were filed. Asbestos litigation grew into a large area of law, and many attorneys began to specialize in asbestos litigation. They only accepted cases that were extremely important. One firm that was involved in this was Kazan Law, which in the latter half of the 1980s began to focus on taking on cases for people with mesothelioma.

Other lawsuits were won by individuals who suffered from other asbestos-related diseases like asbestosis or pleural plaques. The condition that caused them was like mesothelioma making it more straightforward to prove for lawyers. These claims led to the release of secret documents which showed the ways asbestos product manufacturers attempted to conceal their risks. This led to the Asbestos Ban and Phase Out Rule being enacted in 1989.

The Second Cases

As the number of people suffering from asbestos-related illnesses grew, the victims and their families began to file lawsuits against companies that mined, manufactured or sold asbestos-containing products. In addition, mesothelioma sufferers made claims against companies that designed and built the buildings where they worked including power plants, shipyards, factories and refineries. The link between mesothelioma and asbestos exposure is strong.

In the early 1980s, the legal dispute over asbestos lawsuits began to get more intense and the courts made decisions on various aspects of the case procedure. For instance a federal court decided that only people suffering from malignant asbestos-related disease like mesothelioma or lung cancer are able to file an action against the makers of asbestos-related products they used. This ruling, also known as Borel V. Fibreboard Paper Products Corp. was a major setback in asbestos litigation.

Around the same time, Nellie Kershaw from Rochdale in England filed what is regarded as the first known lawsuit against asbestos-related companies. Kershaw, factory worker from Rochdale, England, was diagnosed with lung issues due to her exposure to asbestos fibers. Kershaw tried to convince her employer to pay for the treatment. However, the company refused. Kershaw died in her 30s of fibrosis.

The second wave of asbestos cases centered on workers who worked at construction sites and were exposed to different kinds of asbestos-containing building materials, including fireproofing sprays, drywall products and textures. Asbestos lawyers also brought successful cases against companies who produced equipment that contained asbestos-containing material, such as pumps and boilers.

During this time, a variety of documents that implicated asbestos companies were discovered. These documents proved their involvement in conspiracies and fraud. This included the personal records of Johns-Manville president Sumner Simpson, as well as correspondence from the general counsel of another asbestos lawyer producer, Raybestos Manhattan. These documents revealed the plot of these companies to cover up the fact that asbestos was dangerous and to suppress efforts to inform the public about 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 as well as other efforts to limit asbestos liability for asbestos companies. These attempts were met with a fierce resistance from plaintiffs' attorneys and their clients, as as from the public at large.

The Third Case

In the 1970s, asbestos firms had lost the ability to conceal information about the deadly effects of mesothelioma as well as other asbestos-related illnesses from the public. This was due in large part to the fact major national journals began paying attention to the link between mesothelioma, asbestos and other respiratory diseases, instead of small industry medical journals and newsletters. As soon as the link between asbestos and serious illness was established, patients started filing lawsuits against asbestos producers.

In the 1970s, a decision by the courts that allowed plaintiffs to recourse to strict liability as a legal concept was one of the primary factors that led to an increase in asbestos lawsuits. Plaintiffs in asbestos cases would be required to prove that asbestos producers were negligent for exposing them. In the 1973 case of Borel v. Fibreboard a judge ruled asbestos manufacturers accountable for any injuries resulting from their products if they knew their product was unsafe, but did not inform their employees or the general public about its dangers.

Following this ruling, many asbestos manufacturers filed for bankruptcy, a process which allows a company to reorganize in bankruptcy court, set money aside in trusts to pay asbestos claims and still be in operation. Johns-Manville is an example. It was hit by many lawsuits filed by former workers who suffered from asbestosis, mesothelioma and lung cancer. Kazan Law brought several cases against the manufacturer and was able get punitive damages against it.

Asbestos lawsuits have increased in the past few years because of the increasing number of asbestos-related diseases. Asbestos litigation is often complicated due to the fact that the ailments caused by asbestos can take a long time to manifest and aren't always obvious to those who have been diagnosed.

Some victims have also been forced to wait for years for compensation from insurance companies, even after their employers were found responsible. The US Supreme Court has dealt with numerous cases involving settlements for class actions that asbestos companies offered to try to limit their liability, and it has also pondered the question of whether or not it is possible to hold individuals responsible for asbestos-related injury.

The Fourth Cases

Asbestos is a very dangerous mineral that has caused the death or sickness of hundreds of thousands of people over the years. It's also a substance that was extensively used by companies that knew it was deadly, and yet they continued to employ it in their manufacturing processes.

As the legal system deals these 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 corporations in their home countries to recover compensation.

These situations usually involve secondary asbestos exposure. Workers who handle asbestos at work may pass it on to their family members or spouses. The family members suffer from mesothelioma and other asbestos-related illnesses.

There are many lawsuits filed today by the families of victims of this type of situation. Asbestos lawyers can assist families file a claim against the companies that caused the asbestos injuries of their loved family members.

The emergence of class-action lawsuits is a significant development in asbestos litigation. These asbestos lawsuits provide victims the opportunity to seek justice with the help of an attorney who is well-versed in the complicated legal issues that these cases raise.

While many asbestos attorneys (full report) have pushed for this kind of litigation, there are also some who oppose it. In fact, there have been several attempts to pass legislation that would limit the use of class actions in asbestos cases.

The latest major advancement in asbestos litigation is the filing of a suit by Massachusetts residents against four companies for handling asbestos removal and disposal. The lawsuit alleged the companies did not follow state laws by not properly disposing of asbestos and failing to protect residents from toxic dust.

Asbestos litigation is a long-standing issue that is likely to continue for a long time. The asbestos industry has attempted to avoid accountability by making legal arguments that are technical and attempting to get legislative remedies passed that would block victims from seeking justice. However, it seems that many victims and their lawyers are determined to get justice.