Asbestos Lawyers

For an asbestos lawsuit to have merit, you need to have been harmed in some way. If you have mesothelioma, this harm is obvious. But you also need to be able to prove how that harm happened and that someone has caused it. In an asbestos lawsuit that means proving when and how your asbestos exposure occurred.

After initiating an asbestos lawsuit, litigation usually progresses as follows:

• Your attorney will work with you to collect necessary documentation and evidence proving your exposure to asbestos, your asbestos related disease and the impact on you and your family;
• A “complaint” will be filed in the appropriate court, initiating a lawsuit;
• Your lawyer and the defendants’ lawyers will seek discovery – that is seek information about your claims and the defenses being asserted. This discovery is both documentary – including medical records, corporate records – and includes testimony under oath, what are known as depositions.

The evidence required for an asbestos claim are:

• proof of your injury
• proof of your asbestos exposure.

Proving your injury involves collecting medical records and testimony from the doctors who have treated you. Proving your exposure may be more difficult, so your lawyer will want to know your employment history and speak with your co-workers, union or other sources of information about your work and possible exposure to asbestos.

Some of the most common asbestos diseases include:

• Mesothelioma
• Asbestosis
• Laryngeal cancer
• Pleural disease
• Non-mesothelioma lung cancer

Court cases and settlements can often take months or years, and this is especially true when medical issues are at stake. Judges can sometimes expedite cases if required. This happens occasionally in mesothelioma cases since a person with lung cancer has a vested interest in finishing the case quickly.

The state of New Jersey offers two different types of asbestos lawsuits along with trust fund claims (which will be described later). In a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit, you or your successor sue the company directly in court for the damages caused by your lung cancer. In a class-action mesothelioma lawsuit, a group of exposed persons files a single suit.

To be eligible to file an asbestos claim in New Jersey, you need to have faced measurable damages from your exposure. This generally entails medical expenses and a diagnosis of asbestos disease. You may also need to prove that the company that exposed you to asbestos was negligent in failing to remove or warn you about asbestos in its facility.

Many companies that manufactured asbestos containing products filed for bankruptcy. A part of the bankruptcy process resulted in the creation of trusts that were funded to pay asbestos victims exposed to their products. If the company responsible for your asbestos exposure has already gone bankrupt, you may still be able to file a mesothelioma trust fund claim. This procedure is common for people who were exposed to asbestos in America, but you should still have a mesothelioma law firm on your side as you file the claim.