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The Best Advice You Can Ever Receive About Asbestos Lawsuit
Thompsons Solicitors' Asbestos Lawsuit History

Thompsons Solicitors have handled and secured more compensation claims relating to asbestosis than any other law firms. This is a significant part of our history.

A 1973 court decision sparked an uproar in asbestos lawsuits. Thousands of cases were filed on behalf of uninjured plaintiffs.

The First Case

The asbestos-related story began in a limestone neoclassical building located on Trade Street in Charlotte's Central Business District. It's a strange place to record legal history, but this is exactly what happened in 1973. A retired judge was able uncover a long-standing scheme to defraud defendants and deplete bankruptcy trusts.

Asbestos lawsuits are rooted in the tort law, which states that a seller or manufacturer of any product can be held liable for any injury caused by the product if it knew or should have known about the dangers associated with its use. The research conducted in the 1950s and 1960s showed that asbestos was dangerous and could be linked to lung diseases such as asbestosis, but also to a rare form of cancer called mesothelioma. Asbestos manufacturers denied these risks and continued to sell their products.

In the 1970s, scientists developed more accurate tests to prove the link between asbestos-related illnesses and asbestos. This led to an increase in asbestos-related lawsuits. asbestos lawsuit settlement amounts . Fibreboard Paper Products Corp. was the first case to gain significant legal recognition. The case was filed in the year 1969 and decided in 1973.

This case set the precedent for the many asbestos cases to follow. This was the first case in which courts ruled asbestos producers guilty under strict liability. It was not necessary for plaintiffs to prove that the companies been negligent, and it allowed victims to sue several manufacturers at once.

Texas was the next state to reach the landmark in asbestos litigation history. In 2005, the legislature in Texas passed Senate Bill 15 The law required mesothelioma cases as well as other asbestos cases to be based on peer-reviewed scientific studies, not speculation or suppositions made by hired-gun experts. This was a major change in the law that helped stop the furore of asbestos lawsuits.

Recent developments in asbestos litigation include the prosecution of a number of plaintiffs lawyers and their firms under RICO. This is a federal statute designed to deter those involved in organized criminal activity. The courts have revealed a concerted effort to conceal evidence, mishandle asbestos waste, conceal documents and other similar tactics. This has led to a number RICO convictions, both for defendants and the plaintiffs.

The Second Case

Despite the dangers that asbestos products posed for decades, companies put profits over safety. Workers were bribed to keep secret about asbestos-related illnesses, like mesothelioma. Tens of thousands of mesothelioma victims were compensated when the truth was finally exposed.

In 1973, a single instance led to a storm of litigation across the nation. In the next three decades, tens of thousands of asbestos lawsuits were filed. A large portion of these asbestos lawsuits were filed in the state of Texas which had favorable laws governing asbestos litigation.

The 1973 court decision in Borel v. Fibreboard Paper Products Corp.1 established asbestos defendants could be held accountable for damages when they negligently exposed someone to asbestos, and those exposed to asbestos developed an illness. This case shifted the focus of asbestos litigation away from the individual worker to the actions of the company and set the stage for the mass tort system which continues today.

The case also set a high bar for asbestos victims which allowed them to seek full damages from just one of their employers instead of several. Insurance companies quickly realized the benefits of this legal method and began using strategies to reduce their exposure.

These cynical strategies included changing the definition of "exposure" in order to reduce their liability. They also began to argue that the mere presence of asbestos in the air was not negligent since exposure can come from a variety of sources.

Asbestos litigation continues and there are always new asbestos cases being filed each year. These cases often involve Talcum, a substance that naturally contains asbestos fibers. These cases usually involve women who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma due to their use of talcum powder during the 1970s and 1980s.

Christine Biederman of the Dallas Observer requested a court to release Budd's transcript of his deposition testimony regarding the coaching memo in the final months of 2016. Biederman believed that the testimony could shed some light on Budd and Baron's role in the mesothelioma defense strategy. However, the trial court denied her request.

The Third Case

Asbestos lawsuits exploded in the following the Borel decision in 1973. The litigation saga continued for a number of years. Many victims suffered from mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases. Texas has favorable laws and asbestos-related companies are located there.

The defendants fought the plaintiffs claims. They hired scientists to conduct research and publish papers to support their defenses. They also used manipulative tactics on workers, paying them small sums to keep their health problems quiet and urging them to sign confidentiality agreements.

These tactics were successful for a time. The truth was revealed in the latter part of the 1970s when lawyers representing victims released the Sumner Simpson documents and exposed the ruthless conduct of asbestos company executives. Many workers were legally able to sue asbestos companies for mesothelioma and other related ailments.

By the mid-1980s, asbestos law firms began to limit the number of clients they took on. The Kazan Law firm focused on representing a small number of seriously ill workers with medical evidence of exposure to asbestos.

Lawyers fought against the asbestos companies in their efforts to limit liability. They won a number crucial legal rulings, such as Force v. Director, OWCP (938 F.2d 981). This case established that the duty to warn referred not just to specific products but also to industrial facilities where raw asbestos was present. The case of Jeromson against Thompsons Solicitors was upheld later (unreported).

Many of the biggest asbestos manufacturers declared bankruptcy in the early 1980s. This allowed them to regroup in court and put money aside to pay for future asbestos obligations. Unfortunately the trusts set up in bankruptcy by these companies are paying out asbestos-related damages today.


Defendants also tried to use the exposure-equals-causation rule as a defense in asbestos lawsuits. To prove exposure, it was enough to show the victim worked on a jobsite at which asbestos was employed. This affected the legal system and made it easier to identify asbestos-containing products lawyers representing plaintiffs. Baron & Budd's "coaching memo" was a consequence of this new rule.

The Fourth Case

Clarence Borel's victory paved the way for the victories of other asbestos victims. But asbestos companies began to fight back to defend their profits. They began attacking victims from various angles.

One strategy was to attack victims' evidence. They claimed that the illnesses of victims were caused by multiple asbestos exposures from a variety of employers, not just one exposure. It was because asbestos was used in numerous products and each had the risk of exposure to asbestos in its own way. This was a significant attack on mesothelioma victims rights since it required them to disclose all asbestos-exposured employers.

The defendants also began attacking plaintiffs over the issue of compensation damages. They claimed that the amount they awarded asbestos victims was too high and out of proportion with the suffering each victim endured. Asbestos victims sought compensation for their emotional, financial and physical damages. This was a major problem to the insurance industry as each company was required to pay out large sums of money to asbestos patients even if they were not the cause of their asbestos-related illness.

Insurers also tried to restrict the rights asbestos victims to recover compensation by claiming that they weren't entitled to any damages that were beyond the amount of their employer's liability insurance coverage at the time they developed their mesothelioma. This was despite the fact that medical evidence proved that there was no safe amount of asbestos exposure and that mesothelioma symptoms usually occur 10 years after exposure.

One of the most devastating assaults on asbestos victims was from lawyers who were specialized in this type of litigation. They gathered groups plaintiffs and filed them in bulk hoping to overwhelm the court system. They also devised a shady coaching method to assist their clients in identifying specific defendants. Often, asbestos companies paid for this.

Although some cases went to trial, many victims settled with asbestos companies before or during the trial. A settlement involving asbestos is a contract between the victim and the asbestos company that settles a legal claim of compensation. The settlement may be reached before, during or after the trial, and does not have to meet the same requirements as jury verdicts.

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