You Will Meet The Steve Jobs Of The Ny Asbestos Litigation Industry
New York Asbestos Litigation
In New York, mesothelioma and lung cancer patients can seek compensation through an experienced mesothelioma lawyer. These diseases are usually brought on by exposure to asbestos. Symptoms may not appear for a long time.
Judges who manage the caseload of NYCAL have developed a system that favors plaintiffs. A recent ruling could further weaken the rights of defendants.
Upstate New York Asbestos Litigation Dockets
Asbestos litigation is much different than the typical personal injury lawsuit. These cases involve many defendants (companies that are in court) as well as multiple law firms representing plaintiffs, and multiple expert witnesses. In addition there are typically specific work sites which are the subject of these cases since asbestos attorneys was employed in a variety of products and workers were exposed to it while working. Asbestos sufferers are usually diagnosed with serious diseases such as mesothelioma or lung cancer.
New York has a unique approach to asbestos litigation. In reality, it is one of the largest dockets across the nation. It is managed by a specific Case Management Order. This CMO was created to manage the large number of asbestos cases, involving a multitude of defendants. The judges who are part of the NYCAL docket have experience in asbestos cases. The docket has also seen some of the highest settlements for plaintiffs in recent years.
New York Court of Appeals made significant changes to the NYCAL docket in the last few days. In 2015, the political establishment in Albany was shaken to its foundation when the former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was convicted on federal corruption charges. He had been accused of sabotaging every decently crafted tort reform bill in the legislature for more than 20 years while moonlighting for the plaintiffs firm Weitz & Luxenberg.
Justice Sherry Klein Heitler, the long-time manager of the NYCAL docket, retired in April 2014 amidst reports that she had given the Weitz & Luxenberg law firm "red-carpet treatment." She was replaced by Justice Peter Moulton, who made a variety of changes to the docket.
Moulton introduced an amendment to the NYCAL docket that requires defendants to submit proof that their products are not responsible for the plaintiffs' mesothelioma. He also instituted an updated policy that states that he wouldn't dismiss cases until the expert witness testimony had been completed. This new policy may have significant effects on the speed of discovery for cases in the NYCAL docket and could result in a more favorable outcome for defendants.
In other New York asbestos news, a federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia recently dismissed MDL 875 and ordered all future asbestos lawsuit cases to be transferred to another district. This will result in a more uniform and efficient treatment of these cases. The current MDL is known for its abusive discovery practices as well as its unjustified sanction and inadequate evidentiary standards.
Central New York Asbestos Litigation Dockets
After years of mismanagement and corruption by former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, the scandals regarding his connections to asbestos lawyers (pattern-Wiki.win) have finally brought attention to New York City's asbestos docket that is rigged. Justice Peter Moulton, who is now in charge of NYCAL has already held an open Town Hall with defense attorneys to hear complaints about the "rigged" system which favors a powerful asbestos law firm.
Asbestos litigation is different from the typical personal injury lawsuit, which has many of the same defendants (companies who are being sued) as well as plaintiffs (people who file the lawsuits). Asbestos litigation also generally involves similar job sites where many people were exposed to asbestos, often leading to mesothelioma or lung cancer, as well as other illnesses. This can result in large verdicts that can block dockets of the courts.
To address the issue, several states have adopted laws to limit these types of claims. These laws typically address medical criteria, two disease rules, expedited scheduling, joinders and forum shopping, punitive damage and successor liability.
Despite these laws, certain states continue to see high numbers of asbestos lawsuits. Certain courts have created special "asbestos Dockets" to help reduce the number of asbestos cases and speed up the resolution of these cases. These dockets follow various rules that are tailored specifically for asbestos cases. The New York City asbestos court is one example. It requires applicants to meet certain medical standards, has two-disease rules and employs an accelerated scheduling.
Certain states have also passed laws to restrict the amount of punitive damages awarded in asbestos cases. These laws are intended to discourage particularly harmful behavior and allow for greater compensation to go to victims. Regardless of whether your case is filed in a state or federal court, you must work with a New York mesothelioma lawyer to understand how these laws affect your particular situation.
Alfred Sargente concentrates his practice in toxic tort and environment litigation, product liability and commercial litigation. He also is a specialist in general liability issues. He has a wealth of experience in defending clients from claims that claim exposure to lead, asbestos and World Trade Center dust in both New York and New Jersey. He is also frequently defending cases involving exposure to other hazards and contaminants like noise, mold, vibration and environmental toxins.
Southern New York Asbestos Litigation Dockets
New York has seen thousands of deaths due to asbestos exposure. In five counties, mesothelioma patients and their loved ones have filed lawsuits against companies of asbestos-based products in order to receive compensation. Mesothelioma lawsuits which are successful make asbestos companies liable for their reckless choices.
New York mesothelioma attorneys have expertise in representing clients from all backgrounds against the largest asbestos producers in the United States. Their legal strategies can result in a substantial settlement or trial verdict.
Asbestos litigation has a long history in New York, and continues to be the subject of news. The 2022 mesothelioma claim national report by KCIC declares New York as the third most popular state for mesothelioma lawsuit filings, just behind California and Pennsylvania.
The state's judicial system is shaken by the flood of asbestos lawsuits. In 2015, former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was convicted on federal corruption charges partly related to the millions of dollars in referral fees he earned for the politically powerful plaintiffs law firm Weitz & Luxenberg from handling asbestos cases. Following the scandal, Justice Sherry Klein Heitler, who had managed NYCAL since 2008, was replaced amidst reports that she provided "red-carpet treatment" to Weitz & Luxenberg asbestos lawsuits.
Justice Heitler was succeeded as NYCAL judge by Justice Peter Moulton, who has clarified that defendants are not able to obtain summary judgment unless they have a "scientifically solid credible, admissible and reliable scientific study" showing the measured exposure of a plaintiff was not enough to cause mesothelioma. This effectively eliminates the chance that NYCAL defendants can obtain summary judgment.
Justice Moulton also ruled that plaintiffs must prove injury to their health due to asbestos exposure in order for the judge to award compensatory damages. This ruling, in combination with a ruling in early 2016 that ruled that medical monitoring is not a tort claim makes it virtually impossible for asbestos defense lawyers to win a NYCAL motion for summary judgment.
The latest case in which Judge Toal is in charge on, a mesothelioma suit filed against DOVER GREENS, claims that the company was in violation of asbestos work practice regulations when it renovated buildings on the Manhattan campus in October 2013 to host a fundraising event. The lawsuit asserts that DOVER GREENS did not follow CAA and NESHAP requirements for asbestos by failing to check the campus and notify EPA prior to beginning renovations and to properly remove, store, and dispose of asbestos and have a trained representative present during renovations.
Eastern New York Asbestos Litigation Dockets
At one time asbestos-related personal injury/death cases clogged federal and state courts and drained judges' resources for judicial work and prevented them from addressing criminal cases or other crucial civil disputes. This bloated litigation impeded the prompt compensation of deserving victims and innocent families, and caused firms to commit huge amounts of money and resources for defense of these cases.
Asbestos claims can be filed by those diagnosed with mesothelioma, or other asbestos-related ailments, after exposure to asbestos in the workplace. The majority of asbestos claims are filed by construction workers shipyard workers, construction workers, and other tradesmen working on buildings constructed or made of asbestos-containing materials. These workers were exposed dangerous asbestos lawyer fibers in the manufacturing process or while working on the actual structure.
The first major mass tort was asbestos litigation. In the late 1970s and early 1980s there was a flurry of personal injury and wrongful death cases arising from asbestos exposure was a major issue for courts. This was the case in both state and federal courts across the nation.
Plaintiffs in these lawsuits argue that their illnesses resulted from negligence in the production of asbestos products and that the companies failed to inform them of the dangers associated with such exposure. While the majority of asbestos cases were filed in state courts, a majority were filed in federal courts.
In the early 1990s, recognizing that the litigation was a "terrible overloaded calendar," District Judge Jack B. Weinstein and New York Supreme Court justice Helen Freedman consolidated hundreds of state and federal cases involving asbestos exposure at the Brooklyn Navy Yard for settlement as well as pretrial and discovery purposes. Under the supervision of Special Master, Judge Weinstein and Justice Freedman consolidated these cases and referred to them as Brooklyn Navy Yard consolidation.
Many of the defendants were involved in other asbestos-related claims. The list of defendants included Garlock, Inc; H & A Construction Company, as successors to Spraycraft Corporation; CRH, Inc. as the successor to E.I. Dupont, W.R. Grace and Company, Empire-Ace Insulation Manufacturing Corporation, Bell/Atlas Asbestos Corp., and DNS Metal Industries, Inc. were all defendants.