New York Asbestos Litigation
Mesothelioma patients in New York can receive compensation from a mesothelioma attorney. These diseases are usually brought on by exposure to asbestos. The symptoms may not be apparent for many years.
The judges who manage the caseload of NYCAL have developed an inclination to favor plaintiffs. Recent rulings could further undermine the rights of defendants.
Upstate New York Asbestos Litigation Dockets
Asbestos litigation is much different than the typical personal injury lawsuit. These cases involve numerous defendants (companies which are being accused of being sued) as well as multiple law firms representing plaintiffs, and numerous expert witnesses. In addition, there are usually specific work sites which are the subject of these cases due to asbestos was employed in a variety of products and a lot of workers were exposed on the job. Asbestos-related victims are frequently diagnosed with serious illnesses like mesothelioma and lung cancer.
New York has its own unique way of handling
asbestos lawyers litigation. It is among the largest dockets in the country. It is managed by a special Case Management Order. This CMO was created to handle asbestos cases with a large number of defendants. The judges who are part of the NYCAL docket have extensive experience in asbestos cases. The docket also has seen some of the most prestigious award for plaintiffs in recent times.
New York Court of Appeals made some major changes to the NYCAL docket last week. In 2015 the political system in Albany was shaken to the core when the court convicted former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver on federal corruption charges. Silver was accused of killing every reasonably crafted tort reform bill in the legislature for more than 20 years, while working for the plaintiffs' firm Weitz & Luxenberg.
Justice Sherry Klein Heitler retired in April 2014 amid reports that she gave the Weitz & Luxenberg firm "red carpet treatment". She was replaced by Justice Peter Moulton who implemented a number changes to the docket.
Moulton implemented a new rule in the NYCAL docket that requires defendants to present proof that their products aren't accountable for the plaintiffs' mesothelioma. He also instituted new rules that stipulated that he would not dismiss cases until the expert witness testimony was completed. This new policy will dramatically impact the pace of discovery in cases on the NYCAL docket, and could result in more favorable outcomes for defendants.
A federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia dismissed MDL 875 recently and ordered that all asbestos cases in the future be transferred to another District. This should result in more uniform and efficient treatment of these cases. The current MDL is known for its discovery abuse, unwarranted sanction and low evidentiary standards.
Central New York Asbestos Litigation Dockets
After years of mismanagement and corruption by the former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, the scandals regarding his connections to
asbestos lawyers have finally attracted the attention of New York City's asbestos docket that is rigged. Justice Peter Moulton is now the head of NYCAL and has already held a town hall meeting with defense attorneys to listen to complaints about a "rigged" system that favors a powerful asbestos law firm.
Asbestos litigation differs from the typical personal injury lawsuit. It has many of the same defendants (companies that are sued) and plaintiffs (people who file lawsuits). Asbestos litigation also involves similar job sites where a lot of people were exposed to asbestos, resulting to mesothelioma or lung cancer. This can result in huge judgments in cases, which can cause delays in the court dockets.
To address the problem to address the issue, a number of states have enacted laws that limit these kinds of claims. They typically deal with medical criteria, two disease rules, expedited scheduling, joinders and forum shopping, punitive damage and successor liability.
Despite these laws states continue to see large numbers of asbestos lawsuits. Certain courts have created special "
asbestos attorney Dockets" to help reduce the number and speed up the resolution of these cases. These dockets follow a variety of rules that are specifically designed for asbestos cases. The New York City asbestos court for instance, requires applicants to meet certain medical requirements and has rules for two diseases. It also uses an accelerated schedule.
Certain states have passed laws that restrict the amount of punitive damages awarded in
asbestos attorneys cases. These laws are designed to deter bad behavior and provide greater compensation to the victims. No matter if your case is filed in federal or state court, you should work with a New York mesothelioma lawyer to learn more about the laws that affect your particular situation.
Alfred Sargente concentrates his practice in environmental and toxic tort litigation, product liability and commercial litigation. He also handles general liability issues. He has a wealth of experience representing clients in cases of exposure to asbestos, Lead and World Trade Center Dust in both New York City and New Jersey. He also regularly defends claims alleging exposure to numerous other contaminants and hazards such as solvents and chemical, noise, mold, vibration and environmental toxins.
Southern New York Asbestos Litigation Dockets
Many people have died from asbestos exposure in New York. Mesothelioma patients and their families have filed lawsuits in five counties against the manufacturers of asbestos-related products in order to seek compensation. The successful mesothelioma lawsuits make asbestos companies accountable for their reckless decisions to put profits ahead of public safety.
New York mesothelioma attorneys have expertise in representing clients from all backgrounds in court against the largest asbestos producers in the United States. Their legal strategies can result in a substantial settlement or trial verdict.
asbestos lawyer [
linked website] litigation has a long-standing history in New York, and continues to be the subject of news. The 2022 mesothelioma claim national report by KCIC lists New York as the third most popular place for mesothelioma lawsuits, following California and Pennsylvania.
The judicial system of the state is shaken by the flurry of asbestos lawsuits. Sheldon Silver, the former Assembly Speaker, was convicted in 2015 of federal corruption charges relating to millions of dollar referral fees which he received from powerful political plaintiffs' law firms Weitz & Luxenberg for handling asbestos cases. Justice Sherry Klein Heitler was named NYCAL's manager in the wake of the scandal. She had been in charge of NYCAL since the year 2008.
Justice Heitler was succeeded as NYCAL judge by Justice Peter Moulton, who has made it clear that defendants cannot obtain summary judgment unless they present an "scientifically sound, reliable and admissible scientific study" that shows the measured dose of a plaintiff's exposure was not enough to cause mesothelioma. This eliminates the likelihood that NYCAL defendants will be able to secure summary judgment.
Justice Moulton also ruled that the plaintiff must show damage to their health due to asbestos exposure before the judge to award compensatory damages. This ruling, along with a decision made in the beginning of 2016 that holds that medical monitoring is not a tort, makes it nearly impossible for asbestos defense lawyers to prevail on a NYCAL motion for summary judgment.
In the case that Judge Toal was the judge in mesothelioma lawsuit brought against DOVER Green, a company that is accused of not following
asbestos attorneys work practices regulations when it renovated Manhattan campus buildings in October 2013 to raise money for a fundraising event. The lawsuit claims that DOVER GREENS was not following CAA and Asbestos NESHAP requirements by failing to check the campus and notify EPA prior to commencing renovations and to properly remove, store and dispose of asbestos; and have a trained representative present during renovations.
Eastern New York Asbestos Litigation Dockets
At one point, asbestos personal injury/death cases filled state and federal courts and drained judges' resources for judicial work and prevented them from addressing criminal cases or other crucial civil disputes. This bloated litigation impeded the timely payment of deserving victims, irritated innocent families, and forced firms to commit huge amounts of money and resources in defense of these cases.
Asbestos claims are filed by people diagnosed with mesothelioma or other asbestos-related diseases following exposure to asbestos in a work environment. Most cases are filed by shipyard workers, construction employees, employees as well as other tradesmen who worked on buildings that contained or were constructed with asbestos-containing materials. They were exposed to asbestos fibers that could be harmful in the manufacturing process or while working on the actual structure.
Asbestos litigation was the first mass tort. From the late 1970s to the early 1980s, asbestos exposure triggered a flood of personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits. This happened in state and federal courts across the country.
These lawsuits are filed by plaintiffs who claim that their ailments were the result of the negligent manufacture of asbestos products. They also claim that companies failed to warn them about the dangers of asbestos exposure. While the majority of asbestos cases were filed in state courts, a majority were brought in federal courts.
In the early 1990s, recognizing that the litigation was a "terrible overload of the calendar," District Judge Jack B. Weinstein, and New York Supreme Court justice Helen Freedman consolidated hundreds of state and federal cases involving asbestos exposure at the Brooklyn Navy Yard for settlement as well as pretrial and discovery purposes. Judge Weinstein and Justice Freedman handled these cases and were called the Brooklyn Navy Yard consolidation, under the supervision of a Special Master.
Many defendants had been involved in asbestos claims in the past. The defendants list included Garlock, Inc; H & A Construction Company, as a successor and individually to Spraycraft Corporation; CRH, Inc. as the successor to E.I. Dupont, W.R. Grace and Company Empire-Ace Insulation Manufacturing Corporation, Bell/Atlas Asbestos Corp., and DNS Metal Industries, Inc. were all defendants.