Boston mesothelioma lawyer

July 22, 2016

Appellate Court Upholds $3 Million Asbestos Verdict

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 in 2011 when he was 77-years-old. This was before the verdict was ultimately upheld by the New York Court of Appeals. Once the plaintiff had died, his surviving spouse continued the lawsuit in his name, as is often the case due the deadly nature of mesothelioma.

He actually died just three months before the jury returned a verdict finding several named defendants failed to adequately warn him of the risks of asbestos. Jurors awarded him $3 million in damages, which will now go to his legal heirs, including his surviving spouse and children. Continue reading

July 17, 2016

Mesothelioma: A Breakdown of the Real Costs

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

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 rest of us.

Certainly, our mesothelioma attorneys know that these damage awards sound like an awful lot. After all, how many of us ever dreamed of winning $11 million or more?

But what is often misunderstood is that these damage awards are not windfalls. They are compensation for actual irreversible harms – up to and including death. Yes, punitive damages – intended to punish defendants for egregious wrongs – are sometimes factored in. But plaintiffs have to meet a certain proof burden before they can even seek punitive damages and they are only ever awarded in the most serious of cases. Continue reading

July 12, 2016

Highest Mesothelioma Rate in the World: Australia’s Indigenous Population

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

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 the 50s, 60s and 70s, when asbestos was still commonplace in so many building materials and products. But as a new study has shown, the group with the highest rate of mesothelioma deaths in the world is in West Australia. Specifically, indigenous West Australians have the highest mortality rate for malignant mesothelioma in the world.

Mesothelioma is an aggressive and terminal type of cancer that develops years after exposure to asbestos fibers, breathed into the lungs and scarring the delicate tissue lining of either the lungs or stomach. In most cases, illness and diagnosis occur many years – even decades – after exposure. Continue reading

July 5, 2016

Grant v. Foster Wheeler, LLC – Proof of Asbestos Defendants’ Products as Proximate Cause of Injury

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Asbestos litigation is complex. There are often more than a half dozen defendants. You’re dealing with facts and details that go back decades. Memories have faded. Records are lost. It’s a challenge to say the least. That’s why it’s imperative that you hire an asbestos injury law firm that is experienced and has a history of success on this front.

A recent case before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court illustrates some of the pitfalls that can arise in asbestos litigation.

In Grant v. Foster Wheeler, LLC, plaintiff – the estate of a man who died from mesothelioma due to exposure to asbestos – appealed a trial court grant of summary judgment to defendants on claims of failure to warn of defective products, unreasonably dangerous goods, negligence and loss of consortium. Continue reading