The most common asbestos exposures happened in the workplace. Many trades, including construction, shipbuilding, working with boilers, working at power plants, and working with railroad engines, involved asbestos exposure. However, many exposures to asbestos occurred at home, not at work. Clothes laundered from work in an asbestos-containing environment, or building materials like asbestos-containing “popcorn” acoustic ceiling spray, have caused exposures that decades later result in asbestos disease. Sometimes a location such as a school or office building can cause an exposure from demolition or damage to old steam pipes or insulation. Read the rest of this entry »

Absolutely not! Presumably, the waiver somehow limits your damages or limits your employer’s liability and exposure. Your employer may have the best intentions of completely taking care of you . . . now. But if you sign that waiver, your employer can change its mind at any time in the future. And then when you try to get additional damages, your employer can hide behind the waiver that you voluntarily signed as proof that it does not have to do anything more for you. Read the rest of this entry »

Most likely, yes. It is extremely unlikely that your employer was unaware of any asbestos exposure. The dangers of asbestos exposure have been well-documented in the industry for many decades, and most employers that worked significantly with asbestos knew of these dangers. It is far more possible that your employer turned a blind eye towards any exposure to try and limit its liability. Read the rest of this entry »

There are many possible responsible parties here. As in all cases, the asbestos manufacturer may be partially liable for producing an unreasonably dangerous product. The contractor shares in the liability for releasing the asbestos into the air. Measures should have been taken to either contain the asbestos release or make sure that the area was sufficiently cleaned up before you were allowed to go back in. The owner of the property may also share in the liability for not having the asbestos removed safely, for not having the asbestos cleaned up sufficiently, and for not giving you proper safety equipment during the time you were exposed to the asbestos. Read the rest of this entry »

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. Read the rest of this entry »

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. Read the rest of this entry »

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. Read the rest of this entry »

Not necessarily. In many class action lawsuits, the company being sued will be faced with many lawsuits, both class action and individual. Generally, the class action cases end up receiving the greatest amount of damages to disburse to the members of the class. In many cases, you are less likely to have the money run out before you are compensated if you are part of a class. Read the rest of this entry »

At this time, there are no caps on the damages that can be attained for asbestos exposure; so theoretically, the sky is the limit on damages.

However, damages in legal cases are awarded to try and put the victim in the same place he or she would have been without the illness or injury and, especially when talking about damages for things such as loss of enjoyment of life and loss of future earnings, these damages can be difficult to estimate. Punitive damages, assessed against a Read the rest of this entry »

In most states, families can bring a wrongful death action based on a loved one who has died from asbestos exposure, as long as the lawsuit is filed within the period of time allowed by law.

You will, however, receive damages for different things than if the lawsuit had been filed by your loved one. Your damages will be based on loss of companionship, the Read the rest of this entry »