Tag Archives: Madison Wisconsin

Wiscsonsin Asbestos Bankruptcy Trusts Bill

Wisconsin legislators, at the behest for ALEC and the Wisconsin Civil Justice Council, are at it again.  Over the course of the last two years, they have combined to completely decimate asbestos and mesothelioma victims’ legal rights.  These victims are typically senior citizens who have served our country in the armed forces, especially the Navy, or who were construction laborers, plumbers, electricians, etc.  Most of these victims are dying a horrible death suffocating from the asbestos they breathed in over the course of their service.  These Wisconsin citizens and Veterans are dying and yet these Wisconsin legislators, primarily Republicans, like Andre Jacque of De Pere, are shilling for big businesses and insurance companies.  Representative Jacque apparently doesn’t care that only 9 asbestos related lawsuits were even filed in Wisconsin in 2012.  No, instead he seeks to make sure that any remaining Wisconsin victims of asbestos and mesothelioma will not get justice.

The law Jacque, ALEC, and the Wisconsin Civil Justice Council propose compels that asbestos victims bring all Asbestos Bankruptcy Trust claims first, before bringing a lawsuit against non-bankrupt asbestos companies, like Halliburton, Union Carbide, utilities, and others. The goal is to reduce asbestos victims’ recoveries and delay mesothelioma victims’ ability to get their day in court before the die. Jacque apparently does not want to hear the latter, but that’s the tragic result of the law he has proposed. Clearly, Jacque has never had a family member die from asbestos-related disease or mesothelioma.

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Wisconsin Court of Appeals throws out $1.5 million Asbestos verdict

In Singer v. Pneumo Abex, LLC, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals ruled that a Milwaukee court should have granted summary judgment against the estate of a man who died from malignant mesothelioma.  The successful Wisconsin defense law firm in the case was the Madison office of Godfrey & Kahn.   The unsuccessful plaintiff was represented by an out-of-state law firm and not a Wisconsin asbestos law firm.

The evidence in the case showed that the plaintiff’s decedent had worked at Harnishfeger, one of many Wisconsin companies facing asbestos litigation or alleged to have some link to asbestos or mesothelioma.  The evidence also showed that the plaintiff’s decedent was likely exposed to asbestos while cleaning up asbestos dust caused by brake linings at Harnishfeger’s plants.  However, the plaintiff failed to prove that the plaintiff’s decedent was ever likely exposed to Abex’s brake shoes with asbestos.

Unfortunately, this problem highlights one of the major difficulties in succeeding in a wrongful death case related to malignant mesothelioma caused by asbestos, which is locating credible evidence from which a reasonable person could infer that the deceased was exposed to the defendant’s asbestos product.  Since malignant mesothelioma may not be diagnosed for 20 or 30 years after a person’s exposure to asbestos, there may be difficulty in proving which asbestos products the person was exposed to that caused the mesothelioma.

The problem of product identification is one of many reasons why anyone diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma should hire immediately an asbestos lawyer.  Too often, families will wait to hire a lawyer until after their family member has died from mesothelioma.  However, doing that prevents the asbestos lawyer from obtaining sometimes critical evidence the would allow the attorney to prove which asbestos products caused the mesothelioma.

Madison Wisconsin Doctor Calls for Asbestos Ban

Madison, Wisconsin epidemiologist Marty S. Kanarek that an epidemic of asbestos mesothelioma is coming from emerging marketss.  Long banned in Wisconsin and the rest of the U.S., asbestos is known to be the primary cause for the cancer known as mesothelioma.   Mesothelioma is typically a rare form of cancer in the lungs lining  and abdomin that often arises 30-40 years after exposure to asbestos.

Asbestos was a fire-resistant mineral used in the U.S. for brake linings, insulation, and various other building materials.  Many U.S. Navy veterans have contracted mesothelioma from asbestos exposure aboard ships.  Asbestos exposure has killed more than 130,000 in the United States in the last 20 years or so.   Asbestos is still mined in countries, like Canada, which interestingly will not allow asbestos to be used in its homeland, but is more than happy to export the hazardous product to emerging markets.  Dr. Kanarek has seen dozens of studies of mesothelioma cases including those involving miners, brake workers, cement pipe factory workers and others. He concludes that throughout the world chrysotile asbestos is associated with mesothelioma.

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