New Georgia Law Limits Asbestos Lawsuits

May 1, 2007 - With a quick stroke of his pen, Gov. Sonny Perdue approved a new bill that will limit asbestos lawsuits strictly to those demonstrating illness.

Sponsored by State Senator John Wiles (R-Marietta) and endorsed by Georgia's Trial Lawyer Association, it aims to clear court dockets by allowing priority for cases where the plaintiff can definitively prove illness from asbestos exposure. Wiles said of the bill, ?This would allow people that are truly sick to move to the front of the line.?

Before passage of the law, a lawsuit could be filed if a person was exposed but did not have a confirmed diagnosis of an asbestos related condition. The number of cases generated lead to legal critics consistently arguing that asbestos litigation was creating an avalanche of junk lawsuits.

A recent study found that in the United States alone more than 730,000 asbestos lawsuits had been filed through 2002 and at least 8,400 defendants have received more than $70 billion. Georgia bears a number of these lawsuits as it is home to the headquarters of the Georgia-Pacific company which has long been a target of asbestos lawsuits.

Asbestos was commonly used for insulation and fireproofing before the 1980s when its health risks began to emerge. It is a carcinogen when inhaled and exposure can lead to the often fatal disease mesothelioma. Asbestos exposure related diseases generally take 20+ years to develop and patients are often diagnosed when they are in the advanced stages.

This is not the first time the state has moved to try and limit asbestos lawsuits. An earlier law was dismissed by The Georgia Supreme Court in 2006 and the new law is expected to be challenged as well.

The new law is similar to measures enacted in Ohio, Florida, Texas, Kansas, South Carolina and Texas. A person filing a claim in Georgia must demonstrate that they have some physical impairment from exposure to asbestos. Others who were exposed to asbestos wouldn't be able to sue until they became ill, under the law.

More information can be found here.

William Gallahue is an internet journalist who covers a number of topics.

Three Deadly Diseases That Affect Asbestos Plant Workers

By the term asbestos, we refer to all those fibrous minerals that are used as an element to resist heat or fire. Asbestos is dug from rocks that are metamorphic in nature. Asbestos plant workers are employed for the purpose of digging asbestos from the rocks. This has put most of the workers in this profession at risk because they are in contact with asbestos. When exposed to asbestos, people can suffer from various diseases such as lung cancer, mesothelioma, asbestosis, pleural plagues, etc. These asbestos related diseases are on the rise particularly in countries like the United States.

These ailments caused by exposure to asbestos are deadly because till date there has been no cure for most of these diseases. So it is very important for asbestos plant workers to be careful when they are working in an environment that has asbestos. They have to take extra precautions so that they do not breathe in the asbestos fibers.

In the early days, people in Greece noticed the harmful effects of asbestos on people working with asbestos to turn it into cloth. In recent times, the death tolls started to rise in those places where asbestos mines were situated and this made people investigate the properties of asbestos.

Those companies that were engaged in producing goods from asbestos decided to overlook the harmful effects of asbestos and as a result, the asbestos plant workers became prone to asbestos related diseases. Several lawsuits have been made against the asbestos companies because of the adverse effects of asbestos on the plant workers.

Some Diseases Affecting The Plant Workers

The diseases that affect the asbestos plant workers are as follows:

Asbestosis

When the plant workers inhale or take in asbestos fibers, they are putting themselves at risk of getting asbestosis. After inhaling the asbestos fibers, the worker?s lung suffers from inflammation and irritation. This disease is not cancerous which means that it does not lead to cancer. Initially, the body of the worker tries to protect it self by fighting with these fibers but this will further make the matter worse by harming the cell and causing inflammation.

The worker may not know that he has asbestosis because this is only discovered though x-ray. He will not feel or experience any symptoms, which will make him come to a conclusion that he might be suffering from asbestosis. The airways and the air sacs of the worker?s lung may be blocked by scar tissues or fibrosis that grows near these air passages. This will make the worker feel uncomfortable while breathing. In fact, the more the scar tissues or fibrosis grow the more complicated it will be for the worker to breathe properly. When an asbestos plant worker has asbestosis, he will cough and will not be able to breathe normally.

These symptoms will deteriorate with time even when the worker is not being exposed to asbestos anymore because this disease is progressive in nature. Even though it is rare but some times this disease can be deadly. Such an ailment can harm both the lungs of the worker. It means that it is not restricted to one lung only. Those who are suffering from this disease are more prone to develop mesothelioma or lung cancer. Currently, no cure has been found for this kind of disease and this is one of the reasons why all the plants? workers are asked to be very careful while they are at work.

Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma or malignant mesothelioma is a disease where tumor develops in the body of the asbestos plant workers when they are exposed to asbestos fibers. This tumor has the propensity to extend or multiply to various body parts and hence, this disease is considered to be fatal. Mesothelioma either develops in the abdomen or chest cavity. There are also cases where the tumor grows in the cavity close to the heart. Studies have shown that men workers are more prone to develop this disease as compared to women. Research has also shown that Mesothelioma is more common among the Caucasians. Actually, this type of disease is not common but once it attacks a person it can be very risky.

Lung cancer

This disease is regarded as one of the most deadly diseases where the tissue in the lung is transformed and expanded. Exposure to asbestos can lead to lung cancer in the asbestos plant workers.

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Asbestos Attorney Litigation Techniques

Asbestos is a strong, incombustible, naturally occurring fibrous and silicate mineral used widely in insulation and manufacturing industry. It has great strength, chemical and thermal stability. Three types of asbestos found are chrysotile, amosite and crocidolite. Manufacturing processes leave behind small and buoyant fibers near chemical factories using asbestos. Workers are constantly exposed to such wastes and constantly inhale or swallow these near invisible fibers. A number of serious diseases are caused by inhaling these fibers such as mesothelioma and other kinds of chronic lung diseases.

Mesothelioma is defined as a type of cancer that affects mesothelial cells that are found in linings of internal organs in the human body. A doctor who was conducting an autopsy for lung disfiguration accidentally discovered presence of these fibers. Initial diagnosis paved the way for further research by other doctors leading to discovery of this dreadful disease. This disease was mainly diagnosed in factory workers and miners and factory owners were held responsible for failing to detect its harmful effects.

Asbestos has now been identified as a hazardous substance that endangers human health. Numerous legal provisions have been incorporated to protect interests of workers. America has not banned asbestos completely but has laid down guidelines and laws to protect workers from being afflicted by such diseases. Mesothelioma is not detected in its earlier stages and is diagnosed only in its later stages. This makes it increasingly difficult for law firms to prove their case in spite of prescribed government guidelines.

Workers now have the right to take their factory to court and file a case against them with help of asbestos attorneys who specialize in these kinds of court cases. Such lawyers could be attached to a specific law firm or may operate on their own. They often have the expertise and background knowledge of all such asbestos related cases and are in a better position to fight these cases in the court of law than ordinary lawyers. Dedicated teams of lawyers work together to protect the rights of the affected people and help in securing necessary compensation. These attorneys apply different litigation techniques to fight such cases in the court of law.

Asbestos Attorneys provides detailed information on Asbestos Attorneys, Asbestos Cancer Attorneys, Asbestos Litigation Attourneys, Asbestos Mesothelioma Attorneys and more. Asbestos Attorneys is affiliated with Asbestos Trial Lawyers.

How To Find A Good Asbestos Attorney

Factory workers and miners are sometimes exposed to dangerous effects of asbestos without their knowledge. Prolonged exposure may cause a form of cancer that is known as mesothelioma. It is difficult to diagnose this disease in its initial stages. People are absolutely helpless when they are diagnosed with mesothelioma in its advanced stage.

Patients need to select a particular asbestos attorney who will fight their case efficiently with dedication. Experienced and reputed lawyers may charge extremely high fees but have more chances of winning than cheap lawyers. It is difficult to evaluate the competency of a lawyer. People need to place faith in their lawyer and trust their instincts while selecting one.

Some lawyers charge a contingency fee. They get a percentage of the compensation money, which patients receive as a result of resolution of their asbestos lawsuit. Lawyers do not collect percentage of compensation but do collect other kinds of fees such as court fees, copying fees and fees for hiring of expert witnesses in case they are unable to secure compensation for their client. A contingency fee is an ideal way for customers to fight a case who cannot afford high fees of lawyers. Nevertheless, compensation is not guaranteed and patients need to be prepared for it.

Customers may check the background of particular lawyers to get an idea of their experience and past cases won by them. Some lawyers make an effort to update themselves by attending continuing legal education every year to keep themselves abreast of latest developments regarding asbestos related compensation claims.

Other kinds of lawyers charge on amount of time and effort spent on a particular case whether they win or lose. Charges are based on time spent by them and their staff on that particular case Thus a lot of care and study is required to select a good asbestos attorney.

Asbestos Attorneys provides detailed information on Asbestos Attorneys, Asbestos Cancer Attorneys, Asbestos Litigation Attourneys, Asbestos Mesothelioma Attorneys and more. Asbestos Attorneys is affiliated with Asbestos Trial Lawyers.

Asbestos Attorney Services

Mesothelioma is caused by the inhalation of the asbestos particles and patients suffer a lot due to this. Harmful effects of asbestos have alerted citizens and workers about their rights and legal instruments available for their protection. The root cause of mesothelioma has been established to be asbestos fibers. Many law services now provide services to avail compensation for life threatening effects of asbestos. Many law firms now have dedicated departments for asbestos cases that provide highly professional and reputed services to workers fighting for compensation.

Many asbestos cases are very difficult to fight, as this disease cannot be detected at an early stage. It is one of the major hurdles in court proceedings as it becomes difficult to establish asbestos as the culprit. Nevertheless, dedicated lawyers who understand the disease, its implications and its outcomes take this as a challenge and try every kind of litigation technique to win such cases.

Specialist lawyers have the necessary experience to offer asbestos law services.

It is essential for customers to find and select a reputed mesothelioma law service. This is because patients of this deadly disease often need to file case against established large companies who have the best legal talent as their fulltime lawyers. Hence it becomes extremely important to fight their case with equally talented law firms. Company lawyers use every possible trick in the book to mislead and misdirect the court and to mask vital information from the judge. An early failure in these types of cases delays the whole justice seeking process hence law firms need to be selected judiciously.

Asbestos attorneys provide a range of services for processing litigations. They design their packages in such a way as to help customers recover all damages and medical expenses in the form of lawsuit compensation. They also make a provision for themselves in the form of certain percentage of the recovered amount as contingency fees.

Asbestos Attorneys provides detailed information on Asbestos Attorneys, Asbestos Cancer Attorneys, Asbestos Litigation Attourneys, Asbestos Mesothelioma Attorneys and more. Asbestos Attorneys is affiliated with Asbestos Trial Lawyers.