HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR AN ASBESTOS LAWSUIT

Asbestos lawsuits are, in many ways, not any different than a car wreck case. The person who hit you is the person who should pay to fix your car. You can't just walk to your car, see that it had been hit, look around and stop the first car you see and say "Hey! You own a car. You owe me money." Likewise, the asbestos company that is liable for the asbestos lung injury is the one that made a product that the injured person used or was around.

But there are big differences between the car wreck and the asbestos injury. There is typically a witness to the wreck, maybe even a police report. Car wreck claims are brought within weeks or months of the accident so memories and records are fresh. There is often little physical evidence of an exposure to asbestos. The asbestos exposure or numerous exposures usually took place 10, 20, maybe even 50 years ago so memories are not fresh. Many people don't even know how they were exposed.

Asbestos companies don't admit that a person was ever exposed to their products. In this respect, asbestos cases are more like a hit and run car wreck-we have to locate the hit and run driver. So how do you prove which company is liable?

Experienced asbestos attorneys have spent years learning about the types of asbestos products and when and how they were used. That information is used to interview clients and witnesses. Interviews are attempts to dig deep into their lives to find exposures. I ask many questions. What products were used on the pipes during that service in the Navy in 1952? What joint cement was the dry wall taper using when you worked as a painter at that building in 1965? What types of gaskets did you use? How often did you change brakes on your car and where did you get the brakes? What did your Dad do for a living?

Most important, I ask every new client: do you have any records that show that you worked at a particular job site or with a specific product? Do you have any records of remodeling your house? Do you have your old tax records? Did you keep a calendar or other record of your work? Do you have pictures of yourself on the job?

It is not often that an asbestos victim has any records of his exposure. Most people don't keep that kind of record very long, if it was ever kept at all. Asbestos injury usually strikes older people, often years after retirement. Most people get rid of anything to do with work when they retire and many companies don't keep records of 30 year-ago sales.

The lack of records doesn't mean that the exposure never happened. It just means that you have to go farther, interview more co-workers and friends to find evidence of the exposure. Many union members have testified in their own asbestos suit or in the suit of a co-worker. The testimony of a co-worker is often the only way that an asbestos victim or his/her family are able to get any recovery.

A few years ago I represented a man named Paul Marfice, a mesothelioma victim who initially believed that his exposure to asbestos was in the Navy during the Korean War. He had lived in his house for 35 years so I asked to look around. I found an old box of joint cement that he said he had used to remodel his basement. The box listed its ingredients but did not list asbestos. I took the box and had a sample tested and found that box did contain asbestos. Paul's wife, Joan Marfice, still had their records from that remodeling project and actually had a receipt from the purchase of that product. With that evidence we brought a claim.

The lesson. If you believe you have been exposed to asbestos, make a log of where you worked and when. Do it even if you don't have a lung disease. You will remember better now than you may in five or ten years if you do develop a disease. Write down just how were you exposed at each job or job site? Write down the names and addresses of people who worked with you. Keep work records. If you have old boxes of joint cement, floor tiles or other home remodeling products, keep them. Don't throw them away. Paul and Joan Marfice were fortunate that they had kept that box.

Most important, when you or a loved one develops an asbestos illness, contact an attorney soon. The best evidence of the exposure comes from the injured person himself. I have been hired many times by the children of the victim, months or even weeks after the worker died. Those cases can be investigated and won but they are the hardest cases to handle.

If you have a question please e-mail Steven Crick. Your question may be addressed in future column. Specific questions may require an appointment. For more information, go to www.hfmlegal.com.