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It's A Asbestos Lawsuit History Success Story You'll Never Be Able To
Asbestos Lawsuit History

Lawyers like Stanley Levy have helped many asbestos victims. Patients suffering from mesothelioma or other asbestos-related illnesses can sue companies that mined, manufactured, or used asbestos and asbestos-containing products.

The first asbestos lawsuit was filed by Nellie Kershaw. She suffered health issues while working in an asbestos fiber manufacturing plant in England. Aurora asbestos lawyers passed away at the age of 33 from fibrosis of the lung due to asbestos exposure.

The First Cases

Asbestos, a dangerous mineral, has afflicted and killed thousands over the years. Asbestos claims can be filed for various reasons, but they usually involve people who were exposed to asbestos at work. This includes employees who worked in factories that manufactured asbestos-related products or on the construction site of buildings containing asbestos. It can also include people who were exposed asbestos by using household products, such as talcum powder.

People who were exposed to asbestos may develop a variety of illnesses like mesothelioma, lung cancer and other respiratory conditions. Many have been awarded compensation for their injuries even though some these diseases are fatal. Many countries have laws that require manufacturers of dangerous substances to warn anyone who may be injured.

The first asbestos lawsuit, filed in 1929, involved a woman by the name of Anna Pirskowski. She was suffering from a number of ailments, including shortness of breath and the thickening of the fingertip tissue known as clubbing. She was awarded a settlement of $75,000 in what is believed to be a first-ever class action lawsuit involving asbestos.

In the years following there were a lot of asbestos lawsuits were filed. Asbestos litigation became a very vast area of law and many lawyers began to specialize in asbestos litigation. They only accepted cases that were serious. Kazan Law was one firm that was focusing on this in the late 80s.

Other lawsuits have been won by people who suffered from asbestos-related ailments, such as asbestosis and pleural plaques. The disease that caused them was similar to the mesothelioma, which makes it more straightforward to prove for lawyers. These claims also led to the disclosure of secret documents that showed how manufacturers of asbestos products tried to hide the dangers. In 1989 the Asbestos Ban & Phase Out Rule was enacted.

The Second Case

As the number of people suffering from asbestos-related illnesses grew, the victims and their families began filing lawsuits against companies that mined, produced or sold asbestos-containing products. Mesothelioma patients also filed claims against the companies that created and built the buildings that they worked in including shipyards, power plants, and refineries. The connection between asbestos exposure and mesothelioma's development is strong.

In the early 1980s the legal litigation over asbestos lawsuits started to escalate and the courts ruled on many aspects of the litigation process. For example a federal court ruled that only individuals suffering from a malignant asbestos-caused disease like mesothelioma or lung cancer are able to bring an action against the makers of asbestos-related products they employed. This ruling, also referred to as Borel V. Fibreboard Paper Products Corp. was an important setback in asbestos litigation.

Around the same time, Nellie Kershaw from Rochdale in England was the first to file what is now seen as the first well-known lawsuit filed against asbestos-related companies. Kershaw was an employee in a factory in Rochdale in England, was diagnosed with lung issues due to her exposure to asbestos fibers in raw form. She attempted to convince her employer to pay for the treatment. But, the company was unable to agree. Kershaw passed away at 33 years old from fibrosis of her lungs.

The second wave of asbestos lawsuits focused on people who had been exposed to different kinds of asbestos-containing building materials, like fireproofing sprays and drywall products. Asbestos lawyers also won cases against companies that made the equipment that utilized asbestos-containing materials, like boilers and pumps.

During this period, numerous documents that implicated asbestos companies were discovered. These documents showed their involvement in fraud and conspiracies. The documents included personal documents of Johns-Manville President Sumner Simpson and correspondence from the general attorney of another asbestos producer, Raybestos Manhattan. These documents uncovered the conspiracy of these companies to conceal the fact that asbestos was dangerous and to thwart efforts to inform the public about these dangers.

The discovery of these, and other forms of corporate fraud and conspiracy in the mid- to late 1980s sparked a wave of class action settlements and other efforts to limit asbestos liability for asbestos-related companies. These attempts were met with strong resistance from plaintiffs' attorneys and their clients, as well as from the public in general.

The Third Cases

In the 1970s, asbestos companies had lost the ability to keep information on the fatal effects of mesothelioma and the other asbestos-related diseases from the public. This was due in large part to the fact that the connection between asbestos and diseases like asbestosis, mesothelioma and other respiratory ailments began getting attention from major national publications instead of small industry newsletters or medical journals. When the link between asbestos and serious diseases was well-established, victims began making lawsuits against asbestos producers.

In the 1970s, a court ruling which allowed plaintiffs to make use of strict liability as a legal concept was among the major factors that led to an increase in asbestos lawsuits. In the past, plaintiffs in asbestos cases required proof that asbestos manufacturers were negligent in creating their exposure to asbestos. In the 1973 case of Borel v. Fibreboard a judge ruled asbestos producers liable for any injuries caused by their products if they knew that their product was unsafe, but did not inform their employees or the general public about the dangers.

Following this ruling, a lot of asbestos producers were forced to file for bankruptcy. This allows a company, even if still operating, to reorganize itself in bankruptcy court and to put money in trusts to pay asbestos claimants. Johns-Manville was an especially noteworthy case because it was slammed with a variety of lawsuits filed by former factory workers suffering from asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma. Kazan Law set several cases against the manufacturer and was able to win punitive damage verdicts against the company.

Since then, asbestos litigation has continued to increase due to the rising number of victims suffering from asbestos-related ailments. Asbestos litigation can be complicated due to the fact that the ailments caused by asbestos can take a long time to manifest and are not always apparent to those who are diagnosed.

A few victims have been forced to wait for years for reimbursement from insurance companies, even after their employers were found liable. The US Supreme Court has dealt with a variety of cases involving class action settlements that asbestos companies offered to try to limit their liability and it has also considered the issue of whether it is possible to hold individual defendants liable for injuries caused by asbestos.

The Fourth Cases

Asbestos, a mineral that is extremely harmful, has sickened and killed hundreds of thousands of people over the decades. It's also a material that was widely used by companies that knew that it was dangerous and they continued to make use of it in their manufacturing processes.

As the legal system deals these asbestos lawsuits with a constant stream of new developments. One of the most significant legal developments is the ruling Lubbe v Cape Plc. This set a precedent allowing victims to sue multinational corporations in their home countries to recover compensation.

In most cases, these situations involve secondary exposure to asbestos. Workers who work with asbestos work may transfer it to their family members or spouses. The family members then suffer from mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.

This type of situation is the basis for many lawsuits brought by the families of victims of asbestos today. Asbestos attorneys can help families bring a case against companies responsible for the asbestos injuries of their loved relatives.

Another significant advancement in asbestos litigation is the emergence of class action lawsuits. These asbestos lawsuits offer victims the opportunity to seek justice with the assistance of an attorney familiarized with the complex legal issues these cases bring up.

Some asbestos attorneys are against this type of litigation. In actual fact there have been numerous attempts to pass legislation restricting the use of asbestos-related class actions.


The most recent major advancement in asbestos litigation is the filing an action by Massachusetts residents against four companies over their handling of asbestos removal and disposal. The lawsuit alleged that the companies had violated the law of the state by not disposing of asbestos properly and failing to protect residents from harmful dust.

Asbestos litigation has been ongoing for decades and it will continue to do so for a long time to come. The asbestos industry has tried to shield itself from responsibility using legal arguments based on technicalities and by trying to pass legislative solutions that would prevent victims from seeking justice. It appears that a lot of victims, and their lawyers are determined to get justice acted upon.

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