We know that manufacturers of products sold in the U.S have a duty to warn consumers of potential risks. This is certainly true with makers of asbestos-laden products, particularly where users are at risk of exposure to deadly asbestos fibers or dust, which are toxic when breathed in. But what…
Two multi-million dollar verdicts by separate juries in two asbestos injury cases in New York resulted in damages collectively totaling $28 million, to be paid by boilermaker Burnham. According to Legal Newline, one case resulted in the estate of one man receiving a $6.25 million victory in mid-June, while a second…
Most people have heard of Warren Zevon, or at the very least heard some of his songs. Some of his more famous songs included “Werewolves of London,” “Lawyers, Guns and Money,” and, “Poor Poor Pitiful Me.” Many are aware that he died in 2003 from cancer, but it is not…
The highest court in the State of New York has just upheld a $3 million verdict, according to a recent news article from The Buffalo News. In this case, a former employee who worked as a pipe fitter for General Motors Company at one of their engine plants had died…
According to a recent news article from the Patriot Ledger, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has finally approved an asbestos abatement plan for a church that is slated to be demolished in Quincy. This is after a month-long shut down on the project so an asbestos abatement plan…
In recent years, there have been a number of sizable mesothelioma lawsuit damage awards. This has prompted oft-repeated refrains for tort reform, questions about how jurors could ever conclude such a sum was justified and lamenting that such awards drive up various costs (taxes, insurance, product prices, etc.) for the…
The New Jersey Supreme Court has expanded an earlier decision pertaining to “take-home toxic tort liability,” which is the assertion that companies can be responsible when their workers exposed to potentially harmful materials and take those materials home to their spouses. Now, in Schwartz v. Accuratus Corporation, justices ruled that…
The “every exposure” theory in asbestos litigation has been widely criticized and many judges have concluded it doesn’t pass muster in a court of law. The crux of it is that because no amount of exposure to asbestos is safe, every exposure to asbestos must be harmful. But simply showing…
When we think about exposure to asbestos and the risk of mesothelioma, we might think the most at risk are those who work in the trades: The construction workers, the painters, the ship builders, the auto mechanics. Certainly, those groups see higher rates than others, particularly when they worked in…
A recent news feature form Reuters looks at the relatively unknown reality that asbestos is not technically illegal in the U.S. There was an attempt to ban asbestos in the late 1970s via a regulatory action by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), but the muscle of these prohibitions were…