Insulator

Age:  55

Settlement:  $6 million

Jose was a 55 year old insulator when he was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma.  Jose is married with three children, two of whom were still living with him at the time of his diagnosis.  Jose also had grandchildren living wih him and his wife.  Jose had spent the early part of his career working as a marine insulator aboard ships, primarily in San Diego.  Jose also grew up in a household where his step-father worked in the ship building and repairing trade.

Our office had been collecting information about California shipyards, ship repair contractors and products used in California shipyards formany years.  We were able to quickly develop a lsit of products and companies that were likely responsible for Jose's asbestos exposure.  We filed suit against these companies, and our team of investigators went to work interviewing scores of witnesses who worked with Jose,or who worked for other contractors on the same ships.  We took the depositions of many of these witnesses, who helped us prove which products Jose was exposed to.  Jose also told us that he used masks to try to prevent asbestos exposure during his years in the shipyard, but told us the masks were not very effective.  We learned that the company that made the masks sold them for use around asbestos, but knew they did not adequately protect workers.  We alsosued the manufacturere of the masks.  We forced the company to give us tens of thousands of pages of relevant documents,whihc we combed through to find the truth about the company's masks, and about what the companyknew and what it did with this knowledge.  We took the deposition of the company's representative over two days, asking him about the key documents.  We began a trial against the mask manufacturer, and settled during trial.

The manufacturers of the asbestos products settled before trial, afor a total settlement of over $4 million.  Jose was well for over four years after his diagnosis.  He was able to live an active life, thanks to chemotherapy which slowed the growth of his tumor.   After his case resolved, Jose helped other shipyard workers diagnosed with mesothelioma by testifying as a witness in several other court cases.