Archive for category Mesothelioma

14 Million Dollars Awarded in Miami Mesothelioma Trial Involving Union Carbide

Posted by Chris in Mesothelioma on May 19th, 2010

Today a Miami jury handed Union Carbide a major loss in a mesothelioma asbestos case. Union Carbide is a supplier of asbestos that is incorporated into other products like Spackle or joint compound. In this case, the jury assessed Union Carbide with 46%of the verdict. The other defendants in the case settled before trial. Congratulations to our friend Juan Bauta of The Ferraro Law Firm who did such a great job representing the family.

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Mesothelioma News

Posted by Chris in Mesothelioma News on May 13th, 2010

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$17 million verdict against Honeywell & Abex

Posted by Chris in Mesothelioma on February 9th, 2010

Yesterday  an Illinois jury handed down a surprising verdict against two former asbestos product manufacturers. According to the attorneys involved in the case, the verdict was returned on the novel liability theory of corporate conspiracy. Typically this means that the factfinder determined that the defendants acted in concert with one another and caused the plaintiffs injury.  This is different than a typical mesothelioma product liability case where the verdict is based upon a failure to warn about a particular product manufactured or sold by the defendant.

In this case, the plaintiff,Jayne Menssen, is 65 years old, widowed, and has no children. She was exposed to asbestos from 1967-1969 when she worked as a secretary at the UNARCO plant in Bloomington, IL.  The jury returned the following verdict:

$3,500,000 compensatory
$4,370,000 punitives against Abex
$10,000,000 punitives against Honeywell

Congratulations  to my friends ,Lisa Corwin & Jim Wydler,  who represented the plaintiff  for this extraordinary result.

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9.5 Million Dollar Verdict in Take Home Mesothelioma Case

Posted by Chris in Mesothelioma on January 27th, 2010

Today a  Baltimore jury returned a verdict of  $9,985,000  against ATTRANSCO on behalf of  LeRoy J. Conway, Jr. and his wife, Yolanda.    Leroy’s  father worked for ATTRANSCO beginning in the early 1960s through the 1970s as a merchant mariner in the engine rooms of ships with steam equipment and exposed his son to asbestos when he came home from work. Leroy’s claim was for his exposure in the 1970′s.  Leory was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma when he was 44 years-old and underwent the removal of his lung shortly thereafter. Congratulations to my friends and co counsel Scott Frost, Demetrios Zacharapoulos, and George Tankard of Waters & Kraus on their well deserved victory.

For  more information on recent mesothelioma verdicts see http://www.mesotheliomalegalblog.com/mesothelioma-litigation/verdictsandsettlements.html.

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Mesothelioma Plaintiff Offers Proof of RT Vanderbilt Knowledge of Asbestos in Talc

Posted by Chris in Mesothelioma on January 24th, 2010

In the courts rages a major debate as to whether the talc in various products actually contains asbestos. RT Vanderbilt says no. Here is the proof submitted by one plaintiff with mesothelioma who alleges that Vanderbilt talc caused mesothelioma.

http://www.mesotheliomalegalblog.com/index.cfm/2010/1/24/Mesothelioma-Plaintiff-Proves-that-RT-Vanderbilt-Knew-of-Asbestos-in-Talc

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Cohen Placitella & Roth Force Numerous Asbestos Executives to Admit Knowledge of Asbestos Dangers, No Testing & No Warnings

Posted by Chris in Defective Products, Mesothelioma on January 17th, 2010

 Hundreds of thousands  of working men and women were unwittingly  exposed to asbestos both during the course of their employment and as consumers. The law imposes on the manufacturers the duty to warn and the duty to test. Despite these obligations and extensive knowledge of the dangers posed by asbestos exposure, warnings were not provided and people as a result became sick. Tens of thousands of people have died. Recent statistics demonstrate that the incidence of asbestos related mesothelioma has not even peaked as of 2010.

 

In representing people who have contracted mesothelioma, we have taken the depositions of numerous asbestos company representatives as well as executives from industrial facilities where asbestos was a known contaminant. You can read these depositions and draw your own conclusions as to whether the companies acted properly under the circumstances. All you need to do is to click on this link http://www.mesotheliomalegalblog.com/mesothelioma-litigation/depositions.html

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Asbestos & Mesothelioma Pioneer Research Doctor Irving Selikoff Testifies in Landmark Case

Posted by Chris in Important Cases, Mesothelioma on November 29th, 2009

The dangers of asbestos exposure were known to scientists and industry by the early part of the 20th century.  The relationship between asbestos exposure and cancer was known and acknowledged by at least the early 1940s. In the 1950s, Dr. Irving Selikoff began his research at the Mt Sinai School of Medicine. While Dr Seikoff certainly did not discover the dangers of asbestos, he did more than any other human being living or dead to publicize the information on asbestos and disease and as a result changed the landscape of occupational medicine forever.

I had the privilege of getting to know Dr Selikoff personally and was able to proudly call him my friend. I spent may hours with Dr. Selikoff at his home and at his office discussing the need to educate and protect workers and the public from the ravages of asbestos exposure. The last project we worked on together was to obtain funding for molecular biological research on the cause of environmentally induced cancer.

Although Dr. Selikoff is acknowledged at the preeminent expert on asbestos related disease, he avoided working as an expert witness because it took time away from his research. By clicking on the following link you can read the rare testimony provided by Dr. Selikoff in the landmark case of Claude Tomplait.

http://www.mesotheliomalegalblog.com/mesothelioma-litigation/documents.html

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Verdicts for Mesothelioma Victims Bring Justice

Posted by Chris in Mesothelioma on November 7th, 2009

Over the course of the last month there have been an umber of important verdicts for people suffering from mesothelioma.  Juries continue to reject the litigation defenses in favor of the truth.  To learn more read http://www.mesotheliomalegalblog.com/index.cfm/Verdicts-and-Settlements

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A Tribute to a Friend I Will Never Forget

Posted by Chris in Mesothelioma, On My Mind on November 1st, 2009

When I first started representing people injured from exposure to asbestos, I was blessed to meet Vincent (Vinny) Cudiner. Vinny was a Local 12 insulator out of New York City who lived in New Jersey with his family. When I first met Vinny , he had been diagnosed with mesothelioma , a form of cancer only caused by exposure to asbestos. In those days, the treatment options were very limited and Vinny was acutely aware that the candle on his life was rapidly burning down.
 
 
Vincent ,even after diagnosis ,was an extremely handsome and charismatic man.
While Vinny had a limited education, he may very well have been a genius and was one of the kindest and most compassionate men I would ever meet. Vinny was truly a “Renaissance Man”  in every sense of the word with a character that even had the power over death for a while. The diagnosis of mesothelioma was a window through which I could see the strength and wisdom of this extraordinary person.
 
Even before being diagnosed with mesothelioma, Vinny made it part of his life mission to insure that others would not have to work with asbestos. After learning from Dr Irving Selikoff about the dangers of the products that he unwittingly worked with all of his life, Vinny took off from work and spent months in the US Patent office researching the ingredients in insulation materials. After extensive research, Vinny eventually developed an asbestos substitute which was patented.
 
 
After Vinny was diagnosed with mesothelioma, he was determined that others in his trade should not meet the same circumstances. Instead of sitting home, Vinny toured the country with Dr. Selikoff to speak with workers about the need to protect themselves from the asbestos already in place.
 
 
Vinny was a man who could see things in people and even nature that other men did not see. I can recall walking with Vinny along the shore of the Hudson River one day not too far from his home. While we were walking, he bent over and picked up a piece of wood that washed onto the shore and carried it home. When I asked Vinny why he chose that piece of wood, he responded that he could see something inside that he wanted to explore . The next time I came to visit , Vinny proudly pointed to a beautiful carving of a sailboat which he had created out of that very piece of wood.
 
 
Some months later when Vinny’s disease had progressed, he called me and asked me to visit him at his home. At that point , my family was going through a very difficult time. My wife was lying in a hospital bed with an affliction that threatened to take her eyesight. When I arrived at the house, Vinny indicated that he had heard about my wife and was going to will his eyes to her when he passed on. I was speechless and to this day I get tears in my eyes every time I think of that moment.
 
 
A few weeks later I received a telephone call from Vinny asking me if I would come visit him. At this point, Vinny was very sick and very frail. It was his 65th birthday. When I met with Vinny he told me that he knew he did not have long to live and wanted to thank me for all I had done.  He also asked for my assurance that we would continue seek justice for his family after he was gone. The remainder of the story as a I recall it still weakens me in the knees. Vinny called each of his children into the room where he was lying one by one and spoke with them about what he expected from them and how he loved them. Lastly, he met alone with his beautiful wife Kari. During those final moments Vinny expressed his eternal love and devotion to Kari, kissed her goodbye and closed his eyes for the final time.
 
I later learned that Vinny’s inner strength was for a time stronger than the forces that eventually took him. As the legend goes, so long as Vinny could live to age 65,  his family would have better benefits when he eventually passed. While Vinny had for a time power over death he certainly knew how to live life.
 
The Lawsuit
 
We filed a lawsuit on behalf on Vincent and his wife Kari in the New Jersey Superior Court. While he was alive, Vinny appeared for his deposition to answer questions about his asbestos exposure and his losses. The defense attorneys could not help but like him. The deposition turned into a course on asbestos products that no attorney in the room expected. Vinny would not only tell the attorneys what the product was used for, he would tell them the chemical composition, where it was made and even a little about the executives at the company they represented . By the second day of his deposition, Vinny knew most of the lawyers by name and would often be found joking with them during breaks.   
After Vinny, passed away the case was resolved very favorably.  I felt like I kept my promise.
 
Many years later I often think of my friend and hero Vinny Cudiner and what he taught me about life, love and compassion. I Only wish that Vinny would have had available to him the treatment options and the hope that others diagnosed with mesothelioma now have.

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Multiple Mesothelioma Verdicts this Week on Both Coasts

Posted by Chris in Mesothelioma on October 20th, 2009

This week juries in California and New York handed down almost 40 million dollars in asbestos verdicts including two punitive damage awards for malicious conduct. For  more information see http://www.mesotheliomalegalblog.com/

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