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All the Information You Need to Start Your Asbestos Lawsuit

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.

When Should You File an Asbestos Lawsuit?

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.

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Kazan, McClain, Satterley & Greenwood

55 Harrison St. Suite 400
Oakland, CA 94607
888-990-7008

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A Professional Law Corporation.