Mesothelioma Information - Lawsuit

Mesothelioma Lawsuit

Most cases of mesothelioma are related to exposure to asbestos. If you know you were exposed to asbestos at work, you may be able to claim compensation from your employer at the time of the exposure after the process of a mesothelioma Lawsuit. Of course, no one is suggesting that anything could really compensate you for having mesothelioma. But it may be helpful for you and your family to have some extra funds to fall back on at a difficult time.

Patients with mesothelioma should consider taking legal advice as soon as the diagnosis is confirmed, from a firm experienced with such cases. This is worth exploring because the sums of money involved can be very substantial.

Mesothelioma lawsuits are divided into two categories — one, where the individual suffering from mesothelioma is living and is bringing the mesothelioma lawsuit as a claimant in his or her own individual ability; the second, where the individual with mesothelioma has died, and the claimant is a spouse, relative and/or representative of the departed individual's estate. The first is called a personal injury lawsuit (a "living case"), the second is called wrongful death lawsuit (or "death case"), and the laws and procedures that apply to them can be rather different, depending on what authority the case is filed in.

In the case of the living claimant, the most important factor is time. The lawyer will come to the claimant's home and gather the information necessary to file the mesothelioma lawsuit and answer the interrogatories. This will probably take some time. Then, in most cases, there will be one or two depositions of the claimant, depending on what the local procedures are. Once the deposition(s) are done, the claimant's lawyer does the rest.

In the case where the individual who would normally be the claimant is deceased, a court-appointed individual (usually the spouse or a close relative) stands in as the claimant, and the injuries claimed include the loss of life itself. The most important part of a death case is finding individuals who remember working with the claimant, to provide the work history and product exposure testimony that the deceased individual (called the "decedent") would have provided were he or she still living. The interrogatory answers are done and signed by the actual claimant, and that individual may or may not have to give a deposition. Sometimes the co-workers must give depositions as well. As in the living case, at that point the lawyer takes over and prepares the case for trial.

Trial

This is the end stage. Most cases settle before there is any actual trial testimony in court, but often a jury has to be picked and be ready to hear the case before there is a settlement (the composition of the jury can effect the settlement value of the case). Generally, where there are multiple defendants, different defendants will settle at different stages, and some will hold out to the end. Often, where there is trial, it will only be against one or two defendants.

If the case goes to trial and the jury renders a verdict, that is not the end of the line. Either side can file an appeal, claiming that the jury found against them because of a mistake made by the judge at the trial. Cases often settle while they are on appeal as well.

Resolution

In asbestos litigation, settlement payments often take place months after the settlement is agreed to. This is because the defendants or insurance companies that are writing the checks are also writing checks on thousands or tens of thousands of other cases. Also, settlements may need to be approved by underwriters at places like Lloyd's of London, where much of the world's commercial reinsurance is written (for more on this, see Asbestos Litigation History). Some payments come in several months after the settlement is reached, some payments will be more than a year later. Unfortunately, because of defendants filing for bankruptcy, some won't come in at all (at least until a bankruptcy trust starts paying out, which is sometimes years later). Some settlements can be in more than one payment.

Out of the gross amount of each settlement, the claimant's attorneys will deduct the attorneys' fee, which is usually up to 40% of the total. Out-of-pocket lawsuit expenses will also be deducted at this time. The remainder, sometimes described as the amount to which the claimant is entitled, goes to the claimant. Because the asbestos bankruptcies are so backlogged (especially with all the new ones, which have not even had claim procedures set up yet), the case will generally remain open for a number of years after the settlement of the case that was pending in court.

Amounts of settlements vary widely, not only from case to case but from region to region and state to state. Even different counties within the same state can have substantial differences in settlement values.

If you are interested in trying to make a compensation claim, check our Mesothelioma Law firms section for help.