April 28, 2005
Mesothelioma
In March 2005, over a million searches (1,075,432 to be precise) were made through Yahoo/Overture for the term "mesothelioma". That's kind of curious isn't it? In contrast, there were 57,556 clicks for "asbestos". Looks like fraud to me.
| % | category |
|---|---|
| 77.4 | mesothelioma |
| 7.8 | mesothelioma cancer |
| 1.1 | mesothelioma lawyer |
| 0.9 | mesothelioma attorney |
| 0.7 | mesothelioma lawsuit |
| 0.4 | mesothelioma treatment |
| 0.4 | mesothelioma asbestos |
| 0.4 | mesothelioma doctor |
| 0.4 | pleural mesothelioma |
| 0.4 | mesothelioma help |
May 24, 2004
Waters & Kraus mesothelioma verdicts
A Google search afternoon for Waters & Kraus asbestos verdicts ended up at my site. Of course, they only show you the victories. Courtesy of John at VerdictSearch, here's what I found.
| date | award | result | case type | case | court | state | description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3/12/2004 | n/a | Verdict-Defendant | Products Liability; Asbestos, Toxic Torts - Asbestos | Robert Crowley and Ann Crowley v. Kaiser Gypsum Company, Inc. | Dallas County District Court, 95th | TX | Plaintiff Robert Crowley, 58, a former construction worker, learned that he had contracted mesothelioma in 2002. Crowley had worked in a variety of plants over his work life, including a Massechussets... |
| 2/2/2004 | n/a | Verdict-Defendant | Toxic Torts; Asbestos, Products Liability - Asbestos | Charles Richard Keefe and Kathleen Keefe v. CertainTeed Corporation, Capco Pipe Company, Kaiser Gypsum, Bondex International, Inc., The Flintkote Company and Georgia-Pacific Corporation | Tarrant County District Court, 96th | TX | In 2001, plaintiff Charles Keefe learned that he had peritoneal mesothelioma. His father had worked at a variety of industrial and commercial sites where he was exposed to asbestos fibers between 193... |
| 7/21/2003 | $7,500,000.00 | Settlement | Toxic Torts; Asbestos | Jo-Etta Richardson, individually and as personal representative of the estate of Austin Richardson, deceased, Aaron Austin Richardson, Danielle Richardson, a minor, and Bobby Sue Landry v. Du Pont, Carlock Gaskets, Georgia Pacific, Goodrich, KCG, and Texaco Corporation | Orange County District Court, 128th | TX | Plaintiffs' decedent Austin Richardson, 50, worked in a variety of industrial plants as a welder and a shipfitter from the late 1960s and into the 1980s. During that time he was exposed to asbestos pr... |
| 6/27/2003 | n/a | Verdict-Defendant | Products Liability; Asbestos | Jessie Clancy, Dana Clancy, Ismael DeLeon and Ray DeLeon v. Kelly Moore Paint Company and Sherwin Williams Company | Tarrant County District Court, 67th | TX | Plaintiffs Jesse Clancy, 62, a paint contractor, and Ismael DeLeon, 72, a retired drywaller, worked with paint products produced by Kelly Moore Paint Company of San Carlos, Calif. and Sherwin Williams... |
| 4/14/2003 | n/a | Verdict-Defendant | Products Liability; Asbestos | Pamela Ward, individually and as Personal Representative of the Heirs and Estate of Jimmy Ward, Deceased, Morgan Ward and Michael Ward v. BP Amoco Corporation, Garlock Sealing Technologies L.L.C. | Montgomery County District Court, 9th | TX | The plaintiffs' decedent, Jimmy Ward, 53, was an employee of BP Amoco Corp. from 1968 to 1993. Until the late 1970s , he worked as a roustabout, performing a variety of jobs at Amoco-Old Ocean, a refi... |
| 10/31/2002 | $2,749,130.00 | Verdict-Plaintiff | Asbestos; Product Liability, Products, Negligence, Malice, Punitive Damages | Wade Freeman, Individually and as Personal Representative of the Heirs and Estate of Jerry Freeman, Deceased; Kevin Freeman and Lynette Freeman v. Quigley Company, Inc., et al. | Dallas County Court at Law No. 2 | TX | In August 2000, Jerry Freeman was diagnosed with mesothelioma. He died of the disease in April 2001, at the age of 62. His estate and three adult children, as plaintiffs, alleged that he had developed... |
| 7/25/2002 | n/a | Verdict-Defendant | Asbestos; Wrongful Death, Products | Robert Dalbec, Individually and as Personal Representative of the Heirs and Estate of Margaret Dalbec, Deceased v. Kelly-Moore Paint Co., Inc. | Hunt County District Court, 354th | TX | A lawsuit claiming that exposure to a joint compound caused a Duluth, Minn., housewife's mesothelioma has resulted in a defense verdict for manufacturer Kelly-Moore Paint Co. The estate of Margaret ... |
| 6/13/2002 | n/a | Verdict-Defendant | Asbestos | Thomas Love and Janet Love v. Kelly-Moore Paint Company Inc. | Orange County District Court, 163rd | TX | An Orange County jury on June 13 found a paint manufacturer not liable for a dry waller''s mesothelioma. Thomas Love worked as a dry waller for 30 years. Love alleged that, in that time, he was exp... |
| 6/11/2002 | $1,700,000.00 | Verdict-Plaintiff | Toxic Tort; Wrongful Death, Malice | Lavell Moore, Individually and As Personal Representative of the Heirs and the Estate of Willie Moore, Deceased, and Lance Moore and Lanita Moore v. Brown & Root Inc. n/k/a Kellogg Brown & Root Inc. | Angelina County District Court, 159th | TX | An Agelina County jury awarded $1.7 million to the family of a man who contracted mesothelioma because of exposure to asbestos-containing products at a paper mill. However defense counsel contends tha... |
| 6/10/2002 | $1,710,000.00 | Verdict-Plaintiff | Asbestos; Wrongful Death, Gross Negligence | Lavelle Moore, Individually and as Personal Representative of the Heirs and Estate of Willie Moore, Deceased v. Kellogg Brown & Root, Inc. | Angelina County District Court, 217th | TX | For the fourth time in less than two years, Brown & Root was found grossly negligent in a death due to asbestos exposure. An Agelina County jury awarded $1.71 million to the family of a man who contra... |
| 4/30/2002 | $5,550,000.00 | Verdict-Plaintiff | Asbestos; Wrongful Death, Negligence, Gross Negligence | Patti Kilough, Individually and as Personal Representative of the Heirs and Estate of Herrel Wayne Kilough, Deceased v. Brown & Root, Inc. n/k/a Kellogg Brown & Root, Inc.; Kellogg Brown & Root, Inc. f/k/a Brown & Root, Inc.; Brown & Root I, Inc. n/k/a Kellogg Brown & Root, Inc. and Kellogg Brown & Root, Inc. | Harris County District Court, 127th | TX | After two weeks of trial, a Harris County jury returned a verdict against Brown & Root saying the company acted with conscious indifference to the rights, safety and welfare of its employees for faili... |
| 1/29/2002 | n/a | Settlement | Asbestos; Products, Malice | Judy Radtke, individually and as representative of heirs of the estate of William Radtke, deceased v. Able Supply Co., et al. | Travis County District Court, 126th | TX | The family and estate of a longtime smoker who died of lung cancer after years of alleged asbestos exposure as a drywaller settled the last of their claims in Travis County against a manufacturer for ... |
| 1/24/2002 | n/a | Settlement | Asbestos; Products, Malice | Olivia W. Greer, individually and as personal representative of the heirs and estate of Lewis R. Greer, deceased; Collen Joyce Long, individually; and Pamela Hooper, as personal representative of the heirs and estate of Elmer M. Long, deceased v. Able Supply Co., et al. | Travis County District Court, 126th | TX | The families and estates of two men who died of lung cancer after years of alleged asbestos exposure in their drywalling work settled the last of their claims in a Travis County case on for an undiscl... |
| 11/8/2001 | $3,022,500.00 | Verdict-Plaintiff | Asbestos; Products, Wrongful Death, Survival | Dorothy A. Lehmann, et al. v. Able Supply Co., et al. | Milam County District Court, 20th | TX | A Milam County jury awarded more than $3 million for injuries that resulted from three men's exposure to asbestos. The trial was designated 26,342B and included four plaintiffs and one defendant. Th... |
| 10/23/2001 | $2,819,320.00 | Settlement | Products; Negligence, Gross Negligence, Asbestos | Mervyn Skinner and Rosalie Skinner vs. Burns International Services Corporation f/k/a Borg-Warner Corp., Georgia-Pacific Corp., and Honeywell International as successor-in-interest to Bendix | Travis County District Court, 353rd | TX | In December 1998, Mervyn Skinner was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung caused by asbestos exposure. Skinner, who was 65 by the time of trial, worked part-time for Shearer... |
| 10/15/2001 | n/a | Verdict-Defendant | Asbestos; Products, Wrongful Death, Survival | Jacqueline Cichocki, et al. v. Dana Corp., Dresser Industries, individually and as successor-in-interest to Harbison-Walker Refractories Co., and Owens-Illinois, Inc. | El Paso County Court at Law No. 3 | TX | In the fall of 2000, Theodore Cichocki was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a cancer caused by asbestos exposure. He worked at Inland Steel in east Chicago for 40 years, from 1952 to 1992, and claimed tha... |
| 8/30/2001 | $3,100,000.00 | Verdict-Plaintiff | Asbestos; Products | Henry Plummer and Eula Plummer. v. ACandS, Inc. and Garlock | Dallas County District Court, 160th | TX | Plummer served in the U.S. Navy from 1951 through 1977 as a machinist mate aboard numerous vessels and submarines where he was exposed to asbestos on a daily basis. In 1999, he was diagnosed with pleu... |
| 8/28/2001 | $5,250,000.00 | Verdict-Plaintiff | Asbestos; Products, Wrongful Death (Any WD Case), Survival, Negligence, Gross Negligence | Imogene Harrison, Individually and as Representative of the Estate of Harvey Harrison, Debra Grimes, and Linda McClure v. ACandS, Inc. | Travis County District Court, 98th | TX | The plaintiffs claimed decedent was exposed to asbestos while he worked as a maintenance mechanic for 26 years at Lubbock Power & Lighting Co. in Lubbock. He was diagnosed with fatal mesothelioma in S... |
| 8/21/2001 | $11,100,000.00 | Verdict-Plaintiff | Asbestos; Malice, Punitive Damages, Products | Robert Hutchison and Joyce Hutchison v. Combustion Engineering, Inc., and Owens Illinois Inc. | Nolan County District Court, 32nd | TX | A Nolan County jury awarded a retired insulator-helper and his wife $11.1 million, including $6 million in punitive damages, for mesothelioma that he allegedly contracted as a result of exposure to as... |
| 7/31/2001 | $6,102,222.00 | Verdict-Plaintiff | Asbestos; Toxic Tort, Products, Negligence | Joseph Breaux and Deane Breaux v. North American Refractories Company | Dallas County District Court, 162nd | TX | Joseph Breaux worked as a pipe fitter and welder, and from 1966 until 1973, was exposed to asbestos insulation products at the Avondale Shipyard and on oil drilling platforms at industrial sites throu... |
| 7/27/2001 | $725,000.00 | Verdict-Mixed | Toxic Tort; Asbestos, Wrongful Death (Any WD Case), Survival, Negligence, Punitive Damages | Nancy Moore, Individually and as Personal Representative of the Heirs and Estate of Robert Moore, Laura Aslin, Mary Harwell, Margo Knutson, Kristi Lee, Robert Lee Moore, Jr., Karen Lacewell, and Jeri Wood v. Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation and Brown & Root, Inc. | Morris County District Court, 76th | TX | Robert Moore worked at the Lonestar Ammunition plant in Lone Star, Texas from 1967 to 1969. He also worked at the Lonestar Steel facility from 1977 to 1985. While working at Lonestar Steel, Moore was ... |
| 6/29/2001 | $1,000,000.00 | Verdict-Plaintiff | Asbestos; Products, Negligence, Gross Negligence, Punitive Damages | Boyce Innerarity and Carole Innerarity v. ACandS, Inc., et al. | Dallas County Court at Law No. 1 | TX | Boyce Innerarity and his wife, Carole, both retired and in their 70s, brought suit last year against a number of manufacturers of and companies using insulation containing asbestos. Innerarity had wor... |
| 5/30/2001 | n/a | Verdict-Defendant | Product Liability; Toxic Tort, Wrongful Death (Any WD Case), Gross Negligence, Asbestos | Donald Gilbreath, as personal representative of the heirs of LoyPeteGilbreath, deceased, and Larkin Orsburn, as personal representative of the heirs of Jerry Dale Orsburn, deceased v. AK Steel Corporation, formerly known as Armco, Inc. | Cooke County District Court, 235th | TX | The two men worked for more than 25 years using asbestos products to produce machined parts for the oil drilling industry. When they became ill and died, their estates pursued claims against their emp... |
| 3/5/2001 | n/a | Verdict-Defendant | Toxic Tort; Medical Malpractice - Wrongful Death | Agripina Saenz as Personal Representative of the Estate of Rafael Saenz, Mike Jimenez and Elvia Jimenez v. Owens-Illinois, Inc., Kaiser Aluminum and North American Refractories Company | Nueces County District Court, 319th | TX | ... |
| 1/1/2001 | $4,010,000.00 | Verdict-Plaintiff | Toxic Tort; Asbestos, Medical Malpractice - Wrongful Death, Negligence | Shearon Shelton vs. Brown & Root | Smitth County District Court, 241st | TX | ... |
| 8/14/2000 | $5,425,000.00 | Verdict-Plaintiff | Toxic Tort; Negligence, Medical Malpractice - Wrongful Death | Vickie Looman, Individually and as Personal Representative of the Heirs and Estate of Robert Looman vs. Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation | Gregg County District Court, 124th | TX | ... |
| 3/27/2000 | n/a | Verdict-Defendant | Toxic Tort; Asbestos | Gwendolyn Grey Luce, Individually and as Personal Representative of the Heirs and Estate of Robert Thomas Luce, Deceased vs. AC&S, Inc., et al. | Milam County District Court, 20th | TX | ... |
| 2/14/2000 | $19,300,000.00 | Verdict-Plaintiff | Toxic Tort; Gross Negligence, Wrongful Death | Glenda Durham, Individually and as Personal Representative of the Heirs and Estate of Robert Lee Durham, deceased, et al. vs. Able Supply, Inc., et al. | Gregg County District Court, 124th | TX | ... |
| 6/14/1999 | $340,000.00 | Verdict-Plaintiff | Toxic Tort | Charlene Hardwick, Individually and As Representative of the Estate of John Dwight Hardwick and John Dwight Hardwick, Jr. vs. Owens-Illinois and Guard Line, Inc. | Cass County District Court, 5th | TX | ... |
| 5/24/1999 | n/a | Verdict-Defendant | Toxic Tort; Asbestos, Products | Jessie Monroe Riggs vs. Pittsburgh Corning Corporation | Grayson County District Court, 15th | TX | ... |
| 1/25/1999 | $100,000.00 | Verdict-Plaintiff | Toxic Tort; Negligence, Product Liability | Phillip Bartlett vs. Pittsburgh Corning Corporation | Orange County District Court, 163rd | TX | ... |
May 21, 2004
The top asbestos verdict - 2003
VerdictSearch has a facinating top 100 of 2003 from which I extracted my top asbestos verdict of 2003: $250,000,000 in Whittington v. U.S. Steel settled by Randall A. Bono, The Simmons Firm, East Alton, Ill.; Michael Brickman, Richardson, Patrick, Westbrook & Brickman, Charleston, S.C.
Law.com has the scoop (4/10/2003).
The jury in Madison County, Ill., found that U.S. Steel Corp. failed to warn Roby Whittington, 70, of the risks it knew were associated with inhalation of asbestos fibers. The jury awarded $50 million in compensatory damages and $200 million in punitive damages to Whittington, who suffers from mesothelioma, an incurable and invariably fatal cancer solely caused by asbestos inhalation.Note that "all of the other defendants settled except for one trial winner." So the real number could be much larger.
The second largest case last year, also mentioned in the law.com article, was Croteau v. Consolidated Edison Co. of New York Inc.. $47,136,325 was awarded in this case. The plantiff's attorney was Jerry Kristal, Weitz & Luxenberg, New York. In this case, Robert Croteau, 54, "alleged that his exposure to asbestos while employed at power plants owned and operated by Con Edison and Long Island Lighting Co. caused his mesothelioma." Weitz & Luxenberg have a short New York Times article on the case up on their site. In Brown v. Honeywell Corp. in 2002, Weitz & Luxenberg won $53.5 million for their client from the automotive brake manufacturer.
May 20, 2004
VerdictSearch
I found VerdictSearch today. VerdictSearch claims nearly 100,000 verdicts and settlements. It's probably where I would look if I were looking for a lawyer for something very specialized, especially for something like Mesothelioma. They charge heavily, $129 per day. Some of their verdicts are posted on Texas Lawyer, though back articles are by subscription only. The most recent case was that of Crowley v. Kaiser Gypsum, No. 02-11183-D in the 95th District Court, Dallas County. It was a win for the defense. The defense attorney was Jennifer Judin, Dehay & Elliston, Dallas and the plaintiffs' attorney David C. Greenstone and Jeffrey B. Simon, Waters & Kraus, Dallas.
Mesothelioma and the law, an academic perspective
Deborah Hensler is a professor of law at Stanford University and co-author of a number of Rand studies on asbestos litigation. In a semi-recent article published June 2002 in the Texas Law Review, she states that "at least 500,000 asbestos workers and their family members have brought claims against one or more defendant corporations." That's a lot of people. Through 2000, U.S. insurers have paid more than $20 billion to resolve claims. Estimates of the final cost are as high as $200 billion.
The chart below shows the number of claims filed against five major companies. You can probably guess where we are now - four years later.
The problems in the U.S., though, are no match for those in the UK. The BBC recently reported that "more than 500,000 non-domestic premises currently contain some form of asbestos." 5,000 people die from asbestos-related diseases in the UK each year.
May 19, 2004
Asbestos lawyer or mesothelioma lawyer
According to Overture , in April 2004 there were 2640 searches for "asbestos lawyer" and 6755 for "mesothelioma lawyer", 1249 for "mesothelioma lawyer california". Interestingly, none of the top hits really lead to a list of lawyers, although they seem like they should. Ideally there should be a list of lawyers along with how they were doing in terms of wins versus attempts. Whose gonna make this? Probably a good place to start is in California. The closest thing I found is the Asbestos News site - but this doesn't give you a list, it gives you a form to fill out to "contact a lawyer". Sneaky huh?
May 13, 2004
Secondhand mesothelioma - a verdict
The Saint-Louis Post-Dispatch reported on Tuesday that the Missouri Court of Appeals upheld a $5 million judgement on secondhand mesothelioma. Stephanie Foster died at age 43 from mesothelioma resulting from exposure while a toddler in California 40 years ago. Her father, Robert Foster, worked as a machinist on missiles at Aerojet and unknowingly exposed her to asbestos dust on his work clothes coming home.
Verdicts for secondary asbestos exposure are "becoming more and more common," said Ted Gianaris, one of the plaintiffs' lawyers. "In our office, we have been representing some young women with the disease, and they are almost always the daughters of tradesmen, mechanics or laborers."
The $5 million judgement consisted of $3 million for wrongful death, $2 million for pre-death pain and suffering, and $119,000 for lost wages and medical expenses. How much do you think Gianaris' firm was paid? Ted Gianaris works for the Simmons Firm, which handles nothing but asbestos cases.
"We currently have about 1,400 cases," Bono said, "and we are not the biggest asbestos firm. But we are the biggest firm when it comes to mesothelioma."An article on the original judgement can be found at law.com - from the looks of it Aerojet made some pretty big mistakes. The article (12/2002) also gives some statistics on number of cases:
The Foster case was one of about 300,000 asbestos-related cases now before state and federal courts, experts say. And that number is expected to grow at a rate of more than 50,000 new cases a year as people who fear they were exposed to cancer-causing asbestos -- in many cases decades ago -- but may not even become aware of the health risks.