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Asbestos Lawsuit: What's New? No One Is Discussing
Thompsons Solicitors' Asbestos Lawsuit History

Thompsons Solicitors has run, and won, more asbestos disease compensation cases than any other law firm. This has been an important part of our past.

A 1973 court decision sparked an explosion of 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. In 1973 the neoclassical limestone structure on Trade Street in Charlotte's Central Business District was the site of a legal landmark. A retired judge was able uncover a long-running scheme that was used to defraud defendants, and also deplete bankruptcy trusts.

Asbestos suits are rooted in tort law which states that a business can be held responsible for any harm caused by a product if it were aware or ought to have been aware of the dangers associated with its use. The research conducted in the 1950s and 1960s demonstrated that asbestos was dangerous and linked not only to lung disease like asbestosis but also to a rare form of cancer known as mesothelioma. Asbestos manufacturers denied the dangers and continued to sell their products.

In the 1970s, scientists had developed more accurate tests to prove the link between illness and asbestos. mesothelioma asbestos lawsuit resulted in an increase in asbestos-related lawsuits. Borel v. Fibreboard Paper Products Corp. was the first case to gain significant legal recognition. It was filed in 1969, and was decided in 1973.

This case set the precedent for a lot of other asbestos cases to come. This was the first instance in which courts ruled asbestos producers guilty of strict liability. It was not necessary for plaintiffs to prove that the companies had acted negligently, and it allowed victims to sue multiple manufacturers at one time.

Texas was the next state that reached an important milestone in asbestos litigation history. In 2005, the legislature of Texas approved Senate Bill 15 This law required mesothelioma cases and other asbestos cases be founded on peer-reviewed scientific research instead of speculation and conjecture from hired gun experts. This was a major change in the law and has helped to defuse the firestorm of asbestos litigation.

More recent developments in asbestos litigation include the prosecution of a number of plaintiffs' lawyers and their companies under RICO, which is a federal law crafted to catch those involved in organized crime. A concerted effort to hide evidence, conceal and dispose of asbestos waste, hide documents and other similar tactics have been exposed by courts, resulting in several RICO convictions for both defendants and claimants alike.

The Second Case

Despite asbestos manufacturers knowing the dangers of their products for decades but they remained focused on profits ahead of safety. They even used bribes to get workers to keep quiet about the dangers of asbestos-related illnesses such as mesothelioma. Tens of thousands of mesothelioma victims received damages when the truth was disclosed.

One incident in 1973 provided the spark that ignited a nation-wide litigation blaze. In the years that followed the tens of thousands of asbestos lawsuits were filed. A majority of asbestos lawsuits were filed in Texas which has favorable laws for asbestos litigation.

The 1973 court ruling Borel v. Fibreboard Paper Products Corp.1 determined that asbestos defendants can be held liable when they negligently expose the person to asbestos and the person develops an asbestos-related disease. This case changed the focus of asbestos litigation away from the individual worker to the company's actions and laid the foundation for the mass tort system which continues today.


The case also established high standards for asbestos victims. This allowed them to recover their full compensation from only one employer, rather than multiple employers. Insurance companies quickly recognized the potential of this legal method and began using strategies to reduce their exposure.

These cynical tactics included altering the definition of "exposure" in order to lessen their liability. They also began to argue that the mere presence of asbestos in the air wasn't negligent because exposure can occur from a variety of sources.

Asbestos litigation is ongoing, and there are always new asbestos cases being filed every year. These cases often involve Talcum, a substance that naturally contains asbestos fibers. These cases usually involve women who were 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 about the coaching memo in the final months of 2016. Biederman hoped that the testimony could shed light on Baron and Budd's role in the mesothelioma defense strategy, but the trial court denied the request.

The Third Case

Asbestos-related lawsuits exploded in wake of the Borel decision in 1973. The litigation saga raged for years. Many victims suffered from mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases. The majority of the cases were filed in Texas due to favorable laws and because asbestos companies were headquartered there.

The defendants fought the plaintiffs' claims. They hired scientists to conduct research and publish papers that bolstered their defenses. They also manipulate employees, offering them small amounts to keep their health concerns secret and urging them to sign confidentiality agreements.

These tactics were effective 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 behavior of asbestos company executives. Asbestos producers were sued by thousands of workers who were suffering from mesothelioma and other diseases.

By the mid-1980s, asbestos law firms began to restrict the number of clients they would take on. Kazan Law focused on a smaller group seriously ill workers with medical proof of asbestos exposure.

Lawyers fought back against the asbestos companies' attempts to limit their liability. They were successful in a variety of important legal rulings like Force v. Director OWCP (938 F.2d 981). This case proved that the duty to warn applied not only to specific products but also to industrial facilities in which asbestos was present. It was later affirmed in the case of Jeromson v. Thompsons Solicitors (unreported).

A number of the biggest asbestos producers filed for bankruptcy in the early 1980s. This allowed them to regroup in court and set money aside to cover future asbestos-related obligations. Unfortunately the trusts in bankruptcy created by these companies continue paying out asbestos-related damages today.

Defendants also tried to use the exposure-equals-causation rule as a defense in asbestos lawsuits. To prove asbestos exposure it was enough to prove that the victim worked at a site where asbestos was utilized. This affected the legal process and made it easier for plaintiffs' lawyers to identify their clients with asbestos-containing products. This new rule was the reason for Baron and Budd's "coaching memo".

The Fourth Case

After Clarence Borel's victory, more asbestos victims were able to win their cases. But asbestos companies began fight back in order to defend their profits. They began to attack victims on different areas.

One strategy was to denigrate the evidence of the victims. They claimed that the victims suffered from illnesses that were the result of multiple exposures to asbestos from many employers and not one exposure. It was because asbestos was used in many products and each had an asbestos exposure risk. This was a serious attack on the rights of mesothelioma sufferers, as it required them identify the asbestos-exposed employers of their.

The defendants also began to attack plaintiffs on the issue of compensatory damages. They claimed that the amount awarded asbestos victims was excessive and insufficient to the suffering each victim endured. Asbestos victims were seeking compensation for their physical, emotional and financial loss. This was a significant challenge to the insurance industry because it meant that each business was responsible for paying out large sums of funds to asbestos victims even if the company did not directly cause their asbestos-related illness.

Insurance companies also attempted to limit asbestos victims' right to be compensated, arguing that the insurance coverage provided by their employer was adequate at the time of the mesothelioma's onset. This was despite the fact that medical evidence proved that there is no safe amount of asbestos exposure and that mesothelioma symptoms typically occur 10 years after exposure.

Lawyers who specialize in this kind of litigation initiated one of the most damaging attacks on asbestos victims. They gathered large numbers of plaintiffs to file them in bulk, hoping the court system would be overwhelmed. They also devised a system for secretly coaching their clients to target particular defendants. They were often paid to do so by asbestos firms they targeted.

Although some cases went to trial, a lot of victims were able to settle with asbestos companies before or during the trial. A settlement involving asbestos is a contract between a victim and the asbestos company to stop the legal claim to compensation. It can be reached before or after a trial and is not subject to the same requirements as a jury verdict.

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