Thursday, January 03, 2008

Jury Awards $9 million to New York Mesothelioma Victims

On December 17, 2007, a New York City jury awarded a total of $9 million to compensate two New York City mesothelioma victims and their wives for damages caused by asbestos exposure. The two cases (Rosenberg and Casale) were joined for a single trial in New York County Supreme Court. The mesothelioma law firm representing both families is Levy Phillips & Konigsberg, LLP ("LPK") whom have represented New York families affected by mesothelioma for more than two decades.

The jury verdicts in these cases are being viewed as ground-breaking by mesothelioma trial attorneys, as the verdicts were handed down against companies against whom no jury verdicts had ever been returned in the long history of asbestos exposure litigation in New York City.

The case of Joel and Sharon Rosenberg v. Alpha Wire Company, et. al, Index No. 106697/06 involved the asbestos exposure that Mr. Rosenberg sustained as the result of working as a life-long electrician in New York with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers ("IBEW"), Local 3. The jury awarded $3 million for Mr. Rosenberg's pain and suffering and $1 million to Mrs. Rosenberg for loss of services and society. Mr. Rosenberg developed mesothelioma during his retirement while living in New Jersey. He died at the age of sixty-four.

The Casale case (Joseph and Dolores Casale, Index No. 104299/06), involved the asbestos exposure of Mr. Casale during his career as a steam fitter (also known as pipe fitter) in New York. The jury awarded a total of 5 million dollars in the Casale case: 1.5 million for Mr. Casale's pain and suffering up to the date of the verdict; 1.5 million for Mr. Casale's future pain and suffering; 1 million for Mrs. Casale's loss of service and society up to the date of the verdict; and 1 million for Mrs. Casale's future loss of service and society.

In the Casale case, the New York jury returned a verdict in favor of the Casales against a manufacturer of valves, as well as a manufacturer of steam traps. This represents the first verdicts involving valves and steam traps in the history of asbestos exposure litigation in New York, and is reportedly the first asbestos verdict in the nation involving the use of steam traps.

The LPK mesothelioma trial attorneys that obtained the verdicts in these cases were Jerome H. Block, Patrick J. Timmins and Holly C. Peterson. These mesothelioma trial attorneys at LPK (the attorneys for the Rosenberg and Casale families) have won numerous other landmark jury verdicts in the course of more than 25 years of representing New York mesothelioma victims.

For more information about this mesothelioma trial, LPK's mesothelioma trial attorneys, or for more information about mesothelioma and asbestos exposure, please call the mesothelioma attorneys at Levy, Phillips & Konigsberg LLP at 800-MESO-LAW or 212-605-6200, visit www.lpklaw.com or complete the email form on this page. You will also find informative medical and legal information about New York and New Jersey mesothelioma and asbestos exposure at www.nynjmesothelioma.com.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This example helps to highlight the fact companies should be punished if they have exposed their workers to asbestos especially if this has lead to diagnosis of the terminal disease mesothelioma.
Victims should be able to get advice about what they may be entitled to. there are examples of these and other cases when people have fallen victim to an accident at work available online.

babemoon said...

Interesting comment. Having recently worked with removing floor tiles containing asbestos from a school in the UK, health and safety regulations are very strict. The problem is that I found that nobody seems to check that the regulations are being carried out properly. With asbestosis and other such illnesses like mesothelioma taking what can be years to surface, how do you prove who's ultimately responsible so you can make a claim?

I looked at your examples about compensation claims which were fairly interesting but would also mention this article on asbestos claims as I found it quite interesting.