Mesothelioma Attorney

Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer that frequently occurs in individuals who have had prolonged exposure to asbestos. Though there are several forms of mesothelioma, that most common is pleural mesothelioma, which damages a person’s lungs and the protective lining covering them.

Persons with pleural mesothelioma often have trouble breathing and swallowing. Other common symptoms of this illness are lung infections, tiredness, significant chest pain, and the heart’s inability to fully operate. It is important to realize that the time frame between one’s exposure to asbestos and his or her development of mesothelioma is often considerable, sometimes as long as several decades. Regardless of the time that it takes for mesothelioma to appear in an individual, most who develop it have legal recourse to compensate for the losses they have suffered because of it. Because the subject area is a vast one, but no means is this article a complete rendition on it.

Individuals who worked for employers that used asbestos are the most common group of those who come down with mesothelioma. For example, asbestos was frequently used by car manufacturers in building brake pads and linings, and workers who dealt directly with either have a significant chance of coming down with the illness.

Beyond that, many products containing asbestos, such automobile and building insulation were used not only by the manufacturers’ employees but also by individuals who independently took on the task of insulating an area of a vehicle or attic which needed it, to name just two things. In these instances, individuals who incurred mesothelioma from exposure to the asbestos in the products have recourse directly against the product manufacturers. For example, Owens-Corning has been sued in several cases by individuals who have alleged that the asbestos used in their insulation products caused their mesothelioma.

Accordingly, employers which use products containing asbestos and manufacturers of such products are frequent defendants in lawsuits alleging that the plaintiff has suffered damage from asbestos exposure. Damages commonly awarded to compensate plaintiffs in these cases include 1) the actual medical costs incurred by a plaintiff to treat his mesothelioma; and 2) an award for the “pain and suffering” that the plaintiff suffered due to the illness; and 3) an amount equal to the attorney fees that the plaintiff incurred in the case.

Unlike medical costs, which are concrete, pain and suffering damage is more flexible and typically determined by the finder of fact, whether that be a judge in a bench trial, or a jury in a jury trial. Beyond that, some states allow claimants to seek punitive damages, typically awarded as a form of punishment against the defendant. These damages are frequently obtained upon proof that the defendant knew that the asbestos used by its employees or in its products was potentially dangerous to those exposed to it, but did nothing to either notify users of such or to substitute another matter for the asbestos.

To determine whether the exact types of damages that can be awarded in these cases, it is important to check the law of the particular state that the action is filed in. For instance, even if punitive damages can be awarded, some states have laws that predetermine the amount which can be awarded, such as a cap of no more than 3 times the compensatory damages awarded.

Because there are cases where several million dollar judgments have been awarded to claimants, many defendants sued in such cases favor obtaining a settlement to limit the damages. Also, defendants who are able to reach a settlement in these case do not incur the massive attorney fees usually spent preparing a case for trial and actually holding a trial. For example, in Honeywell Intern, Inc. v. Guilder, 23 So.3d 867 (2009), the Florida Third District Court of Appeal dealt with an individual’s claim against several manufacturers, to the effect that he used products from them containing asbestos which eventually led to his mesothelioma. The appellate opinion mentions that the lawsuit filed by Guilder originally named several defendants, many of who settled before trial, obviously because it limited that amount of damage that they could suffer.

There are also several websites on the Internet that report the average settlement reached for mesothelioma claims in a particular state. For instance, there is a website announcing that $ 800,000 is the average settlement for mesothelioma cases brought in California.