Guest Blogs

When Do You Need An Asbestos Lawyer?

July 3, 2021

Did you know that not all injury-related or wrongful death cases are the same? Let’s talk about asbestos and what you need to do—what asbestos is, why you need a lawyer, and more. This is especially important, because asbestos is in so many old buildings and lawyers like the ones at Cohen & Cohen Law Firm.

Many injuries are one time incidents, where maybe a handful of people were involved. Some such incidents are car accidents, pedestrian accidents, even liability accidents. But an asbestos lawsuit is going to stem from years of exposure to asbestos-containing products—or ACPs. Often these asbestos-containing products are from multiple manufacturers.

Claims such as this require experienced medical opinions, second opinions regarding medical care, and scientific evidence to back-up that the asbestos did indeed cause the injury or illness. These types of claims may bankrupt an entity due to the scale of liability.

So, if you’re bringing an asbestos claim to the court, you want a good lawyer that knows their stuff.

You Have to Understand Exposure Evidence

If you’ve got a disease that’s related to asbestos, you’ve probably worked with a good deal of different asbestos-containing products, or lived with someone who worked around asbestos. Asbestos was a “miracle mineral” for decades and was used in a lot of products… Some of those products are:

  • Fireproofing
  • Joint compound
  • Insulation in pipes
  • Drywall in houses
  • Gaskets
  • Valve packing
  • Automobile brakes
  • Clutch linings
  • Cylinder head gaskets

This is not a full list, but it does show you how varied asbestos-containing products are. This means you’ve probably been exposed to asbestos-containing products without knowing that you were exposed to asbestos-containing products. ACPs cause diseases like mesothelioma, even if you’ve never worked directly with ACPs. If you’ve lived in the same household as someone who was around ACPs, you may have been exposed because asbestos can go on your clothing and wait to be inhaled.

It’s also unlikely that you will remember the name of every product you have ever used in your lifetime, so you may not know that you were exposed until you’ve got a disease that’s related to asbestos.

Your asbestos lawyer is going to gather information—they’ll collect information on you, your medical history, they’ll help track down products, they’ll help you track down information about asbestos. Your lawyer is going to help you compile documentation that may be otherwise impossible to compile on your own. And, furthermore, your lawyer is going to help you find experts to talk on your behalf—from medical experts to scientists that deal with asbestos.

Build Up Your Evidence

Your lawyer has to prove that asbestos caused an injury, disability or death to win your case. How they do this may differ depending on the diagnosis you received—but for asbestosis, it was probably discovered via an x-ray or CT scans. If you have a form of cancer, you’ll have biopsies, scans and more to prove your case.

Let your attorney do the hard work for you, so that you can focus on recovery.