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Posts by: Steven Kazan

How Much Money Can You Receive From an Asbestos Lawsuit?

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asbestos lawsuitNobody initiates a lawsuit unless they think they will obtain some money from it and an asbestos lawsuit is no different. In fact, because of the irrevocable harm done to you from wrongful asbestos exposure and the devastating consequences of developing an asbestos-caused illness like mesothelioma, the stakes in an asbestos lawsuit can be higher than most.

Standard of proof
Asbestos lawsuits are civil cases not criminal cases even though you may feel that what was done to you was criminal. In most civil cases, as described in a California courts website, the judge or jury has to make a decision about which side wins based on a standard called “preponderance of the evidence.” This means that, if the case is decided in your favor, your side of the story is more likely true than not. It does not mean that one side brought in more evidence than the other side. It means that one side’s evidence was more believable than the other’s.

In some cases, the standard for reaching a decision is “clear and convincing evidence.” This means that, for the decision to be made in your favor, you have to prove that your version of the facts is highly probably or reasonably certain, or “substantially more likely than not.”

How large a settlement or judgment can you expect to be awarded?

How much money you might be awarded in an asbestos lawsuit depends on many factors, such as the medical evidence that confirms your diagnosis, how seriously you have been injured, your actual and potential losses, the identification of the asbestos products that you were exposed to, the companies that made these products, and their financial resources. With all the variables, it is impossible to answer this question with specific amounts without knowing more about your potential claim, and you should be suspicious of any lawyer who tells you “how much” on your first meeting.

I can’t speak for other mesothelioma law firms but at Kazan Law, we do not take a case unless we believe the facts are strongly in your favor. Because of our strong track record, most of our cases get settled entirely out of court.

We keep our clients’ settlement amounts confidential to protect their privacy. Defendants who pay our clients prefer confidentiality because if word got out other plaintiff lawyers would try to get as much as we do and then the defendants would not have as much cash with which to pay our next client!

Verdicts are a matter of public record. In recent years, several of our clients have received significant verdict awards ranging from about $5 million to $27 million. For specific amounts on trial verdicts and appellate decisions you can refer to our website.

Asbestos Victim Wins a Landmark Case

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asbestos victimAsbestos victim Robert Alan Speake was “in frail health and breathing with difficulty,” according to the December 1, 1981 article in the San Francisco Chronicle.   But he stood up for his day in court, a day that marked a major change in the tragic history of asbestos victims and the businesses and individuals who exploited their innocence for financial gain.

As ill as he was on that day, Speake stood up on behalf of not only himself but all asbestos victims. And standing with him there in Contra Costa County Superior Court on that day was me. I would go on to fight on behalf of asbestos victims for the next several decades – a fight I continue to this day. But on that day in 1981, we were breaking new legal ground.

I was helping to represent Speake in his lawsuit against the giant Johns-Manville Corp. family of companies which he blamed for his fatal illness.

Speake , 66 at the time, was an asbestos worker for 33 years at Johns-Manville’s Pittsburg plant. We maintained that the executives knew of the health hazards of working with asbestos as early as the 1930s but hid the information from their employees. Bob said they never told him anything and I believed him.

Speake, who had to take early retirement because of his declining health, was suffering from asbestosis, a disease of the lungs, caused by his work environment. Johns-Manville’s lawyers tried to blame the victim and claimed his illness was caused by smoking.

I didn’t buy that. The article quotes me as saying that Johns-Manville acted in “willful and conscious disregard” by never telling workers of the dangers.

“Bob Speake should have had the opportunity to say, I’m going to get out of here and get a safe job, before his health began to deteriorate,” I told the court.

I showed evidence revealing that the company had kept secret the results of X-rays and exams showing signs of asbestos-caused damage in Speake as early as the 1950s.

I sought not only lost pay for Speake, but also substantial punitive damages to make an example of Johns-Manville so others would be spared the fate that was Bob Speake’s.

We succeeded in making an example of Johns-Manville. Their name came to be synonymous with the scandal of asbestos exposure and callous disregard for human life. They went into bankruptcy several months later, right before our next group of mesothelioma lawsuits for their plant workers was set for trial. But we did not succeed in sparing others from Bob Speake’s fate. Greed never learns its lesson. And so we continue to fight on behalf of asbestos victims.

All the Information You Need to Start Your Asbestos Lawsuit

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asbestos lawsuitWhen you want to file an asbestos lawsuit and are suffering from asbestos-caused illness, time is of the essence.

If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma as the result of working with asbestos or living with someone who worked with asbestos, you’ve got a strong chance of winning a large sum of money in damages in an asbestos lawsuit. You will need an experienced asbestos attorney to help you sue the companies that manufactured or installed the asbestos materials you handled.

To help you win your asbestos lawsuit as quickly as possible, even the best attorney needs key information that only you can provide. Pulling together this information ahead of time will enable your attorney to move swiftly on your behalf.

Medical Information

You need to provide concrete evidence that you are suffering from mesothelioma so be prepared to provide the:

  • Date and place of your diagnosis
  • Name and phone number of the physician who diagnosed you
  • List of specific treatments and medications prescribed for you and how much you have had to pay out-of-pocket for these.

Work History

Your attorney also needs to prove that you developed mesothelioma because you or someone in your family was exposed to asbestos at work. Be prepared to provide:

  • The name of the company or companies you worked for. If any company has been sold to another company, try to find out that name, too.
  • The dates you worked for each company – when you started and when you stopped. Try to find and make copies of tax returns or W2 forms that support those dates.
  • The names of products and materials you handled as part of your job.
  • Your job title and specific job duties and job site locations.

Official Documents to Bring to Your Attorney:

  • Marriage, death, birth certificates
  • Health insurance cards, Medicare cards
  • Official Will or Trust Agreement
  • Personal representative papers, or Executor papers
  • Pathology report, chest X-ray reports, CT-chest reports
  • Social Security records (detailed earnings with employer names)
  • Job resumes or job summary/timeline
  • Military: DD214, other documents
  • If prior asbestos litigation: attorney correspondence, settlement correspondence, settlement checks/stubs, complaint.

How Much Does an Asbestos Attorney Cost?

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asbestos attorneyWhen you need to sue for asbestos exposure, one of your first questions might be, “How much will a good asbestos attorney cost me?” It’s a reasonable question to ask if you are suffering from mesothelioma and unable to work. Of course you don’t want to get hit with attorney fees while you may be struggling enough to pay your medical bills.  The answer is nothing.

Why You Should Only Hire an Attorney Who Will Work on a Contingency Fee

The best professional asbestos attorneys in the country will work for you on a contingency basis. When you retain a top quality asbestos attorney, you should never:

  • pay a cent up front
  • get billed
  • be charged by the hour
  • pay for preliminary investigation to determine whether you have strong case

Instead, a portion of the money awarded to you will compensate the asbestos attorney and the rest will go to you.   And only if a judgment is won or settlements are reached in your case. If the jury decides against you, it should be clear that you would not owe any payment to the attorney for his or her time.

How much is a contingency fee?

Some mesothelioma law firms charge up to one-half of what they recover as a contingency fee. Some, like Kazan Law, charge less. Say the contingency fee is one-third. Then, for each $1,000 in settlements you get $666.67 (two-thirds) and the attorneys who represent you get $333.33 (one-third.)

Many attorneys take their percentage first and then subtract the costs of the lawsuit out of the client’s share. Our law firm subtracts the costs first – before the money is divided – so that our clients therefore get a larger proportion of the money awarded.

What are the additional costs of a lawsuit?

Bringing forward a lawsuit involves many costs. Here are several based on what happens in California:

  • Complaint filing fee – $320 You pay this to the court just to get started
  • Depositions – $1,000 – $2,000 per day Most of this goes to pay the fees of the court reporter who takes down the testimony of witnesses interviewed for your case and possibly for a certified videographer to video tape the interviews.
  • Experts – $200 – $400 per hour Your case may require the testimony of experts with levels of knowledge in certain areas beyond the knowledge of most people. They could include building engineers, medical experts, industrial hygienists, architects, naval engineers, geologists or others with expertise relevant to your asbestos case.

Your Asbestos Settlement and Investing

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asbestos settlementThis is a guest post by Patrick Collins of Schultz Collins Lawson Chambers, Inc., the firm we hired to advise us on how to handle Kazan Law’s pension funds, our charitable foundation’s funds, and that some of our partners hired to advise them on personal money management.

The decision on what lawyer to hire is the most important decision almost every family will ever make because so much potential money is at stake. If litigation goes well, the next decision is what to do with the proceeds so that the money is there and stays there to meet the family’s needs for many years to come. We thought it would be informative to offer information to help you understand what questions to ask, and what factors that go into money management are important.

 

What does it mean to invest your asbestos settlement?

Although there are a variety of possible answers—e.g., “risk money to make money”— the best answer is that investing means taking money from your asbestos settlement that you do not wish to spend NOW and sending it into the FUTURE so that it is available for you to spend at a later date. Investing is like stepping into a time machine so that you can meet yourself—and your money— in the future.

You could spend all of your money from your asbestos settlement now but that would be foolish because there would be nothing for you and your family tomorrow. So you are faced with a decision: how much to spend today versus how much to send ahead in time for your future use.

Let’s say that you wanted to send your money across a distance—perhaps New York to Los Angeles—instead of across time. You have a variety of shipping choices:

  • Truck
  • Railroad
  • Airplane

A variety of costs and risks confront you as you make your choice. Shipping by truck may be cheap; but, it is slow. There is little risk because if there is a truck accident, chances are that your package will survive intact. At the other extreme, shipping by air is fast but expensive and, if a crash occurs, your package may be obliterated. Maybe you decide to divide your money into three packages and ship each one differently. It’s up to you.

You confront a similar set of options regarding how to send your money across time. Here are some choices:

  • Bank Account (Certificate of Deposit)
  • Bonds
  • Stocks

Bank accounts don’t earn much money but they are relatively safe; stocks gain or lose money relatively quickly but, in the long run, they offer better return expectations. Bonds are the railroads of the financial industry—they are generally riskier than insured CDs but not as risky as stocks.

What is investment risk? What amount of risk do you need to take with the money from your asbestos settlement? In the next several posts we will talk about risk; types of risk; deciding how much risk, if any, you need to take; and, most importantly, the risk of trying to avoid risk.

The posts provided by Schultz Collins Lawson Chambers, Inc. [SCLC] convey information on basic investment concepts. They are intended to facilitate prudent investment decision making.   They should not, however, be the sole factor in making investment decisions; and, they are not intended to act as advice or recommendations for any specific investor.   SCLC acts as Independent Investment Counsel and is a Registered Investment Advisor. It does not provide legal, accounting or tax advice; and the opinions expressed in the posts are solely those of SCLC. You can find additional information about SCLC, their personnel, and client services at www.schultzcollins.com.

Related posts:

Who Needs to Take Risk with an Asbestos Settlement?

Your Asbestos Settlement and Financial Risk

 

Who Do You Sue in an Asbestos Lawsuit?

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asbestos lawsuit People often ask me, “How do I file an asbestos lawsuit? What should I do first?”

When you are considering going to court to file an asbestos lawsuit, the first thing you need to do is figure out exactly whom you should sue. This may seem like a simple issue, but it can be very complicated.

If you get into a car accident you would sue the person who was driving the car that hit you. But it is not always that simple. For instance, what if the driver of the car does not own the car and was just borrowing it? In that case, you would also want to sue the owner of the car, since the car insurance probably would be in the owner’s name. So, in this example, you would file your lawsuit against two people, the driver and the owner.

Who is at Fault in an Asbestos Lawsuit?

Asbestos cases can be like that. But even more challenging. Unfortunately the symptoms of illness caused by asbestos exposure emerge decades after the exposure has taken place. This can make it more difficult to track down who is responsible for causing you harm. Say you worked for a brake repair shop where you worked with brake pads that contained asbestos. That was 20 or 30 years ago. The shop may be gone now and the owner deceased. Who manufactured the brake pads? Is the company still around? Have they been bought by another company? Have they gone bankrupt and created a trust to settle lawsuits like the one you intend to file?

As you can see, figuring out exactly who to sue is not always straightforward.  Once you determine whom to sue, you need to find enough basic information about that person or organization for an asbestos lawsuit to have standing. Options for compensation will include asbestos trust funds, settlements or going to trial and reaching a verdict.

You can find additional general information on the California Courts website. Or you can consult a lawyer who specializes in asbestos lawsuits. We would be honored if you choose to contact us – at no charge to you.

As Abraham Lincoln, who also was a lawyer, wisely said, “He who represents himself has a fool for a client.”

Landmark Appellate Victory In Favor of Victims of Take Home Asbestos Exposure

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take home asbestos exposureIn a landmark victory decision that may offer hope for justice to all victims of take home asbestos exposure, a California court of appeal has ruled that a case of take home asbestos exposure that had been dismissed now can be reinstated and move forward to trial.

Kazan Law is pleased to announce that the court of appeal reversed a lower court’s ruling that would have dismissed a take home asbestos case against Pneumo Abex, a manufacturer of asbestos brakes, brought by Johnny Kesner, who was exposed to asbestos dust brought home from the Abex plant by his uncle, an employee there.  (Kesner v. Pneumo Abex, LLC (May 15, 2014) First Dist., Div. 3, Nos. A136378 and A136416).

Kazan Law of-counsel attorney Ted W. Pelletier joined trial counsel from the firm Weitz & Luxenberg to successfully argue the case before the Court of Appeal.

The appeal court decision is of special significance because it is the first one to limit a previous court decision that prevented the owner of a piece of property from being held liable for harmful take home asbestos exposures that resulted from the work done on the property.

That decision, Campbell v. Ford Motor Co. (2012) 206 Cal.App.4th 15, was issued in November 2012. It determined that Ford was not responsible for asbestos exposure to family members brought home on the clothes of workers installing asbestos-containing insulation while constructing a new Ford factory on the property. The workers were employed by the contractor hired to build the factory not by Ford itself.

Since then, companies successfully argued that this decision applies to them even though they do not merely own the premises but also actually cause asbestos exposure by manufacturing asbestos products or performing the work that released the asbestos dust.  Many trial courts, lacking further guidance, have applied the Campbell decision to these cases, depriving asbestos exposure victims of the right to pursue their claims against those responsible.

Kazan Law just helped change that. We helped convince the court that Pneumo Abex, who both owned the land and used it to manufacture asbestos-containing brake products, knowingly exposed its employee George Kesner, Johnny Kesner’s uncle, to asbestos dust that he regularly brought home on his clothes.

In a significant step, the appeal court will publish this decision thus making it binding throughout the state. This published decision will provide much-needed guidance to the trial courts in cases involving a defendant who actively created the asbestos exposure hazard that caused injury and who also happened to own the premises where it happened.

When Should You File an Asbestos Lawsuit?

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asbestos lawsuitAs an mesothelioma lawyer, a key question I am often asked is, “When should I file an asbestos lawsuit?” It is a very important question because when it comes to an asbestos lawsuit, timing is everything.

Filing an asbestos lawsuit shouldn’t be done before evidence of harm from asbestos exposure can be verified. Simply being exposed to asbestos is not sufficient grounds to file an asbestos lawsuit on your behalf. And anyone who tells you otherwise is not telling you the truth.

But filing an asbestos lawsuit shouldn’t be done too late either. Certain deadlines (called statutes of limitations) may apply.

At Kazan Law, we believe that a suit should be filed only if a client has mesothelioma or another serious asbestos-related disease – one that prevents him or her from working or interferes in the ability to perform the usual activities of daily living.

If you have been exposed to asbestos, but have not been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease, we recommend that you:

  • monitor your health carefully
  • tell your doctor that you have been exposed to asbestos
  • seek medical attention promptly if you feel unwell
  • find out more about asbestos-related diseases and their symptoms

If you have received a diagnosis of mesothelioma or asbestosis, it is time to call a lawyer. Mesothelioma and asbestosis are not genetic. Nor are they self-caused by risky behavior like smoking. You receive a mesothelioma diagnosis because someone else chose to put you and your family at risk by exposing you to asbestos. Someone else chose to immerse you in toxic asbestos dust that entered your lungs or entered the lungs of your spouse or children when they came into contact with asbestos dust. You are owed compensation, whether that be via a mesothelioma settlement, asbestos trust fund or a favorable verdict.

When you are diagnosed with an asbestos-related illness, it is time to contact an asbestos lawyer. I hope you will call Kazan Law.

American Law Month: Why Democracy Matters For Asbestos Lawsuits

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American Law MonthAs a lawyer who brings asbestos lawsuits, I am keenly aware of the rights every American citizen has under the laws of the land and how they protect us. If you have been harmed by asbestos exposure, you can seek justice under the law even if powerful business interests are responsible for causing you that harm.  How is that possible? Because we live in a democracy where every vote matters.

In many countries around the world, laws do not protect workers. Factories explode, machinery lack safety features, toxic fumes poison the air. Workers die and their families have no recourse. But here in the United States, we vote. Although we may not vote directly ourselves on asbestos regulations and other environmental and occupational safety issues, we vote for men and women we know will safeguard our health and well-being in Congress. We vote for those who will defend our interests against business interests that would seek to exploit us.

“American Democracy and the Rule of Law: Why Every Vote Matters” was the theme for this year’s May 1 American Law Day initiative established by the American Bar Association.

One of the key reasons this theme was chosen for this year is because we are approaching the 50th anniversaries of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. These remain phenomenal achievements in legislation because they strengthen the right of every eligible
American to vote regardless of race, religion, ethnicity or gender.

Here in Alameda County, California where Kazan Law has practiced asbestos law since 1974, these legislative anniversaries and the ideals they represent are so highly cherished, that the County Board of Supervisors has declared that May will be celebrated as American Law Month.

I believe their spirit is reflected in this statement from the ABA:

One of our most cherished national ideals, expressed eloquently by Abraham Lincoln, is “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” It is a principle enshrined in our Nation’s founding documents, from the Declaration of Independence’s assurance that governments derive their powers from the consent of the governed, to the opening three words of the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution, “We the People.”

Honoring the 2014 Broussard Scholarship Recipients

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Broussard Scholarship

Steven Kazan with Mrs. Broussard and the three Broussard scholars–Andrew Demirchyan, Christine Wenqi Fan and Wenyue Chrisdo Fan.

One of the ways we give back at Kazan Law is by helping bright deserving young people become the lawyers of tomorrow. This week we were pleased to once again see this goal reach fruition when the recipients of the 2014 Broussard Scholarship were honored at the Law Day Student Luncheon as part of the annual Alameda County Superior Court and the Allen E. Broussard Scholarship Foundation co-sponsored Alameda County Superior Court Law Day.

As Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Allen E. Broussard Law School Scholarship Foundation for over a decade, it is an honor each year to present three or more academically well qualified students from economically deprived backgrounds with a $5,000 scholarship. This award is the largest private scholarship award for law students attending California Bay Area law schools.

Our firm’s foundation is proud to help support the Broussard Scholarship Fund which was established in 1996, to honor the memory of California Supreme Court Associate Justice Allen E. Broussard, and was incorporated in 1999. The goal of the Scholarship Fund is to continue Justice Broussard’s work to assist law students from underrepresented minority backgrounds pursue a career in the legal profession.

The 2014 Broussard Scholarship Award Recipients

Andrew Demirchyan is starting his second year as a student at the University of California’s Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. His goal is to support marginalized communities by working in land use and employment law. He comes from a family of Armenian immigrants and put himself through UCLA by working two jobs and graduated magna cum laude.

Christine Wenqi Fan emigrated from China at age 9 not knowing English yet excelled in her American education and graduated from UC Irvine. After graduation, Christine plans on dedicating herself to international legal advocacy, counseling clients both in the U.S. and across international borders. Ms. Fan happens to be the twin sister of our next Broussard Scholar.

Wenyue Chrisdo Fan graduated from UC Davis and worked for the Los Angeles Department of Public Social Services as a liaison to vulnerable families in need of public services. She also moved to the Los Angeles area from China and is dedicated to advocating for underrepresented and economically disadvantaged communities. Both sisters will attend Hastings starting this fall.

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