The Asbestos Blog is Your Resource for Information

For those of you who are reaching out to The Asbestos Blog as you begin a potentially complex and difficult journey through the United States or other legal systems, my hope is to educate and inform you and those people who will take this journey with you. This Website and Blog are meant to provide information to guide you into making good decisions at a time when mistakes are costly. It is time to take a deep breath, let it out, and to begin with the fundamentals.

Initially, the current prognosis arising from a Mesothelioma diagnosis is not good. Although the treatments have substantially improved since my father’s passing from Mesothelioma back in October 1981, today’s medicine doesn’t provide much additional quality time or for a cure. However, there are very good doctors and researchers doing very good things and hope springs eternal. If you are suffering from Mesothelioma or any other asbestos related disease, don’t give up, educate yourself on the potential medical avenues open to you for treatment, involve your family and, as applicable, religious advisors, and proceed in the way which will provide the medical care and quality of life best for you. Also, talk with an attorney who specializes in representing those suffering from asbestos related diseases (an attorney who represents “Plaintiffs”) as you will find a lot of money is at issue, especially if you are able to identify where you were exposed to the asbestos. Please be mindful that some of the best Plaintiff attorneys in the United States work in this area of the law because it can be very lucrative and each and every one of them will want your business on a contingency fee percentage basis; typically 33% of recovery net expenses. In my opinion, the choice of attorney that you decide to lead your charge in the court system is critical and, as such, should be done after deliberation and consideration.

With the above in mind, it is important to put your situation into context. Taking 2019 as an example, in the United States there were 4062 asbestos personal injury lawsuits filed against an average of 65 Defendants in each case. Of these cases, 2121 alleged a Mesothelioma diagnosis, 1334 alleged Lung Cancer, while the remaining cases alleged other types of diseases. Of the Plaintiffs, 87% alleged primary exposure involving a male while 13% were females. Also in 2019, more than 10,000 individual companies were sued in those 4062 cases. These numbers were taken from the 2019 KCIC Year in Review Report. KCIC also reports that only about 1% of the asbestos lawsuits actually complete the legal process through trial as 99% are either settled or dismissed.

For those of you who face being sued as a potentially responsible party (a “Defendant”) in your first asbestos related personal injury lawsuit claim, be alarmed but do not panic. You are now part of what I call “the System” which you need to fight tooth and nail against in your very first case unless you want to risk being sued in many more lawsuits as the attorneys representing those suffering from an asbestos injuries look for new sources of payments to replace old sources drying up or filing for bankruptcy. Do not expect it to be easy even if you believe that your company never sold asbestos containing products as the System doesn’t tend to let newly sued companies out without a great deal of discovery and work. That is just the way it is as over 100 companies have filed for asbestos related bankruptcies. With this in mind, it is critical that you quickly look for historical insurance coverage and that you find find one of the many high quality attorneys who specialize in asbestos defense; although it is a niche legal practice, it is a fairly large niche as trial work goes and you will find many attorneys very experienced with asbestos defense ready, willing, and able to assist you on an hourly fee basis. My hope is that this Website and Blog will help you sort through the choices and choose, either independently or with your insurance carrier, the counsel right to represent your company.

That is enough for my first Blog. I hope that you find this Website and Blog useful as you enter the System either as a suffering party or as a newly sued defendant. After you review this site for the information applicable to you, I am available to answer follow up questions at TheAsbestosBlog@gmail.com although my sincere hope is that you will have gleaned from your readings what you need to be an educated consumer as you begin the next step forwards.