All the Information You Need to Start Your Asbestos Lawsuit

June 3, 2014 - Posted by: Steven Kazan - In category: asbestos litigation

When 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.