Frequently Asked Questions About An Asbestos Law Suit

Frequently Asked Questions About An Asbestos Law Suit

Asbestos litigation is one of the longest-running and most expensive mass torts in the history of the United States. For those who do not know the term, "mass tort" refers to a class-action lawsuit. This means that a mass tort is a lawsuit which involves a group of people instead of just one individual.

Currently, asbestos litigations involve more than 600,000 people suing more than 6,000 claimants. If you are one of the people who think that a company has put your life in danger and who wishes to gain justice by bringing that company to the court, then there might be a few questions you want answered. Here is a list of the Frequently Asked Questions by people regarding Asbestos law suits:

How soon after I am exposed to asbestos should I file a law suit?

Many people are frequently unsure regarding whether or not the time is right to file an asbestos law suit. This may be because they are yet unsure regarding whether or not they will be able to claim damages. One of the best pieces of advice that people can give you would be to consult a doctor first. This is because exposure alone to asbestos cannot serve as grounds for litigation. You need to show that your health has been adversely affected by exposure to asbestos before you can start a law suit. An asbestos law suit should definitely have a strong base if it is to go far. You need to remember that some asbestos-related illnesses can be hard to diagnose. This means that you need to be very sure before you attempt to file an asbestos law suit.

If you have been exposed to asbestos but have not yet developed symptoms, then you should definitely try to monitor your health very carefully. Some asbestos-caused illnesses like mesothelioma actually only show about 20-50 years after the person has been exposed to the substance. Watch for any telltale signs of illnesses and then contact a doctor right away. This is because some states have a statute of limitations which prevents people from suing a company when a certain time period has passed after they learn about the disease.

What is a contingency fee?

If you plan to go ahead with an asbestos law suit, then you may be thinking hard about how to pay for it. Most firms actually understand how hard it must be to face the disaster caused by asbestos in your life and they do not want to further add to your burden by charging you for every hour of their advice. In fact, most firms today accept payment in the form of contingency fees.

What exactly are these fees? Well, a contingency fee is a fee that the law firm collects only after the case is finished. A contingency fee is actually based on the amount of damages that you will be receiving as this is often stipulated in contract as being a percentage of the total proceeds of the case.

You have to be careful when agreeing to contingency fees. Some firms take the contingency fees out of the gross proceeds of the case. That is, they take the agreed upon percentage out of the total amount and then subtract the legal fees from your share. This means you will only keep a very small percentage of your cash. Try to look for a firm which deducts the fees from the net proceeds. By doing this, they will bear an equivalent share of the legal fees that you have incurred during the case. If you wish to know the percentage which you might have to part with as a contingency fee, most firms actually charge 1/3 or 33.33 percent.

How much money do litigants get?

This question cannot really be answered without enough information regarding your case. The amount of cash which a company will be willing to part with in your case depends on the particulars of the case. Some people can be hurt because of the fact that the damages that a person receives in an asbestos law suit often depends on how important his or her case is in the light of other people's complaints. This is because to every person, especially those whose lives have been shattered because of their exposure to asbestos, their case is the biggest one.

What is the first step in filing an asbestos law suit?

Always consult a lawyer first. The lawyer will be able to help you by handling all of the details which you may need to complete in order to get on with the asbestos law suit. When you consult a lawyer, you would then be required to cooperate in the information-gathering process. That is, you would be required to disclose any information which is possibly relevant to the case. There are steps following these, but the two described above ought to get you started in an asbestos lawsuit.

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What Are The Four Stages of Mesothelioma Cancer?

What Are The Four Stages of Mesothelioma Cancer?

One rare form of cancer is called Mesothelioma, a malignant tumor in the mesothelial tissues of the lungs and the abdomen, arising from the inhalation of asbestos. Its rarity is one of the reasons why a lot of people are not aware of this kind of fatal disease. In fact, many people die of Mesothelioma undiagnosed. Although there is now a growing awareness of the hazards of asbestos to health, still many have not heard of Mesothelioma and thus, have not understood its nature, cause, signs and treatment. Even some physicians find it hard to detect Mesothelioma because its symptoms are akin to other diseases like lung cancer and pneumonia. Furthermore, it takes decades for a patient who was exposed to asbestos to develop Mesothelioma - fifty years, at most.

Being unaware of Mesothelioma poses higher risks since it deters diagnosis and treatment. A person undergoing treatment must know the different stages of the cancer or the extent of the disease. Chances of recovering from Mesothelioma and the kind of treatment depend on the stage of the illness. There are basically two staging systems used for Pleural Mesothelioma (lungs): TNM system and Brighan system. These staging systems are also used in other kinds of cancers; however, the first is commonly used. There is no established method in determining the stage of the Peritoneal Mesothelioma cancer (abdominal) so the TNM system is used.

There are three variables in the TNM system: tumor, lymph nodes and metastasis. In the earliest stage of Mesothelioma, stage I, the malignant Mesothelioma cells start to grow and multiply only one layer of the pleura. The pleura is the membrane that encloses the lungs and lines the wall of the chest cavity. However, there are some instances wherein the pericardium (membrane that covers the heart) and diaphragm cover are already affected. In this case, the cancer patient is still in stage I Mesothelioma.

In the second stage, the two layers of the pleura are already affected by Mesothelioma. Take note, however, that in this stage, only one side of the body is affected. Normally, the pleura produces only small amount of lubricating fluid that allows easy expanding and contracting of the lungs. The excess fluid is absorbed by the blood and the lymph vessels so there's a balance between the amount of fluid produced and removed. During the second stage Mesothelioma, fluid starts to build up between the membrane of the lungs and the membrane of the chest wall, resulting to pleural effusion. The increase in the volume of fluid produced causes shortness of breath and chest pain. Other Mesothelioma cancer patients experience dry and persistent cough. Diagnosis of the pleural effusion is achieved through a chest x-ray.

Stage III Mesothelioma means that the malignant cells have already spread to the chest wall, esophagus and the lymph nodes on one part of the chest. The patient may suffer severe pain near the parts affected. When not treated immediately or when the Mesothelioma patient doesn't respond well to medication, the cancer may advance to the fourth stage. The fourth stage Mesothelioma is formidable since at this stage the Mesothelioma cells have penetrated into the bloodstream and other organs in the body like the liver, the bones and the brain. The lymph nodes on the other side of the chest may also be affected by Mesothelioma in stage IV.

Brighan staging system, on the other hand, determines whether the Mesothelioma can be surgically removed or not and whether the lymph nodes are affected or not. In stage I Mesothelioma, the lymph nodes are not yet affected and the patient can still recover through surgery. In stage II, surgery can still be executed but some lymph nodes have already been infiltrated by the cancer cells. In stage III, the heart and chest wall are already affected; thus, surgery is no longer advisable. The lymph nodes in this stage, however, may or may not be affected. In the final stage, stage IV Mesothelioma, cancer cells have already gone to the bloodstream and other parts of the body like the heart, brain, bone and liver. In most cases, a patient who has reached stage IV Mesothelioma only has four to twenty-four months to live.

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Checking If You Have Hired the Best Attorney For Your Case

Checking If You Have Hired the Best Attorney For Your Case

Sometimes you feel as if your attorney is not doing his best to represent your interests or not doing his job in the perfect way. Here are something's you can do to get help with that

1. Always be organized and keep a record of the events. Documenting everything will help in a systematic approach. A event calendar for noting down notes as the case progresses.

2. Keep talking with Attorneys and even if you feel the first one you met was good, keep the search open, you never know when you can land up a good fish.

3. A track of the phone calls made to the attorney and the response time taken by him to return your calls can also determine how good the attorney is concerned about his customers

4. Make a list of all the questions you want to ask and try to ask that in random phone calls thus ensuring satisfaction to your queries and thus reducing the attorney time being billed to you

5. If the attorney says about a deadline for example like 50 days and then no word until 75 days make sure you address this point and this will help to make sure that no important deadline has been missed which wont leave a bad negative impact on your case

6. calls are not returned timely or deadlines start being missed are many of the faults that can be resolved in writing via certified mail. If not taken proper caution these faults are oversights that can lead to a fatal impact on the case

7. If red flags are noticed then always address this issue with a certified mail to the attorney with a deadline may be a week or a fortnight to respond. If the attorney fails to provide you responses or your not satisfied with the services , Do not hesitate to terminate his services and go for a attorney who has the time and experience to handle your case in a effective manner

8. If you wish to terminate the attorneys services then this can be done by a certified mail citing the reason for your displeasure and the reason for the termination, But be sure to ask for the your file and a itemized billing statement for all the services rendered and a refund if the attorney has been overpaid.

9. The above points will help you in your quest of checking if your lawyer is the best for you and your case!.

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Odds of Getting Mesothelioma If Exposed to Asbestos

The Odds of Getting Mesothelioma If Exposed to Asbestos

Unfortunately, the odds of getting mesothelioma if exposed to asbestos is quite high. There are a number of factors that are going to affect the situation though, and the eventual outcome. First, how long was the exposure? Second, how great was the quantity of asbestos fibers that were inhaled? These are the two determining factors concerning how much damage might have been done.

Asbestos is an incredibly harmful substance--not initially, but certainly over time. Asbestos breaks off into tiny little fibers and these fibers enter the lungs, where they stay. Asbestos fibers irritate human lungs, and left there, will create cancerous growth on the inside of the lung lining. This is where the trouble lies. Asbestos fibers, once in the lungs, stay in the lungs because there is no method that is very effective for removing them.

Once these asbestos fibers remain in the lungs, they will begin creating deformation of the lung lining, also known as asbestosis. The next stage of growth, which may take many months or many years to come about, is mesothelioma, also know as cancer of the lung lining. These are deadly health conditions and usually the prognosis is grim.

There are some methods that a medical team can apply to help ease the onset symptoms, but there truly is no 'cure' for mesothelioma. Like other types of cancer, there are no cures, however there are treatments that can be used to help eradicate the cancerous growth. The difficult, however, lies with the fact that these treatments are harmful to the body being applied to. It is trying to fix one while harming the other, and not ideal of course.

If asbestos exposure is experienced, or you suspect that you may have been affected, get to the doctor as soon as possible. Do not waste any days in delay, for it is best to properly identify if there is a problem as quickly as possible. An X-ray will be completed on your chest cavity to check your lungs for the presence of these asbestos fibers, which are visible on a lung x-ray.

If you feel like your asbestos exposure is the result of negligence and safety protocols ignored on the part of a company, then your next step after the doctor may be to a mesothelioma attorney. They are a fountain of resources and will help as well, so do not be shy in contacting them. If you think you may have asbestos exposure, please do not delay in consulting with a doctor.

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Mesothelioma - Can the SV-40 Virus Cause It?

Mesothelioma - Can the SV-40 Virus Cause It?

The vast majority of Mesothelioma cases are caused by exposure to asbestos in the workplace or at home. This is a common statement put forth about the cancer, but you'll note it doesn't state that all cases are caused by asbestos exposure. There are instances where asbestos is not involved. One that is garnering attention is whether the SV-40 Virus might cause it.

SV-40 stands for Simiun Virus 40, which is to say it is derived from monkeys. How did this virus become a concern to humans? Well, polio was once a huge health problem. A vaccine was developed for it that has largely eradicated the disease. Oh, there was one small problem. The vaccine was grown on monkey kidneys. Some of the monkeys had contracted SV-40. While not impacting the effectiveness of the vaccine, the virus did travel along with it into some human hosts.

So, what's the big deal? Well, Mesothelioma is a hotly researched form of cancer. One of the methods of studying it is to look at the tumors it produces. In doing so, researches started discovering something very odd. SV-40 was being found in Mesothelioma cancer growths where the patient reported no exposure to asbestos at any point in their life. Researchers started to question whether the virus could be a cause of the cancer in the absence of any asbestos exposure.

There have long been Mesothelioma cases that seemed to have no explanations when it comes to cause. Children as young as two have been diagnosed despite the fact they've never been exposed to asbestos and despite the fact the gestation time should take 20 years or more. Then there have been cases in very remote parts of the world where there is no asbestos and no seeming natural cause at all. Could all of this be explained by the SV-40 virus?

The answer is both clear and unclear. There are plenty of Mesothelioma cases derived from asbestos exposure that show no hint of the virus being present. In turn, there are a few cases where no asbestos exposure is reported, but the SV-40 virus is present in the cancerous growth. At this point, there simply is no clear answer. While the virus may have some relationship, it does not appear to be a smoking gun it the Mesothelioma field of research.

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