Tag Archives: asbestos companies

Milwaukee Mesothelioma Lawsuit

Not long ago, I met with a man suffering from mesothelioma.  This man had worked his entire career at Wisconsin Electric also know as WE Energies.  The man worked at a variety of power plants in Wisconsin, including the Oak Creek power plant, the downtown Milwaukee plant, the Miller valley power plant in Milwaukee, the Pleasant Prairie plant near Kenosha, and various other Wisconsin Electric power plants and substations.  On a number of occasions, he would work around asbestos included electrical work, plumbing related work, and oil treatment work.  The asbestos was in gaskets, insulating pipes, used around wire and joints.  Asbestos was used because it was a good insulator.

Sadly, the man was living a nice life of retirement in Florida enjoying when he was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma.  Mesothelioma is a deadly disease that is only caused by asbestos exposure.  He was suffering from shortness of breath when his doctor discovered fluid on his lungs.  Eventually, a thoracic surgeon was seen and he did a biopsy, which led to the definitive diagnosis of asbestos-related mesothelioma.

When I handle these mesothelioma lawsuits, the victims generally know that their disease is a fatal one.  However, the victims also know that the monies that are involved in these asbestos cases will do at least two things, punish the companies responsible (as many knew asbestos was carcinogenic and caused mesothelioma) and help the families of the victim of mesothelioma.

Wisconsin Shipyard Cited for Asbestos Violations

Fraser Shipyards, Inc. of Superior, Wisconsin, has been recently cited for numerous violations of safety laws including those rules relating to asbestos.  Mesothelioma victims who were exposed at Fraser Shipyards should contact a Wisconsin attorney with experience in handling asbestos mesothelioma cases, such as ours.  Ship building facilities and numerous shipyards around the country and in Wisconsin are known to be responsible for killing many shipyard workers, and the dangers have been known by the corporations running these businesses for quite sometime.  Responsible ship builders obeyed safety laws and protected employees from the hazards relating to asbestos.  If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, please immediately find a lawyer.

Wisconsin Mesothelioma Cases and Awards

Each asbestos mesothelioma case is different.  Thus, awards typically vary from six figures to eight figures since wrongful death by mesothelioma is horrible.  Our Wisconsin mesothelioma lawyers  have had excellent results working on behalf of asbestos victims and their families.  In the last five years, we have helped these families recover more than $21,000,000.00.

Again, every case is different, but to give you an idea of the type of case that was successful, I summarize one below.

John Doe was born and lived in Wisconsin most of his life.  He grew up in the Milwaukee area and lived in the Fox Valley for many years.  After retirement, his pulmonologist diagnosed him with pleural mesothelioma after a lung biopsy and PET Scan.  Mr. Doe had served in the U.S. Navy after high school, a typical fact for many mesothelioma victims, and was exposed to asbestos in the power systems, HVAC systems and mechanicals of various ships and at shipyards.

After serving in the armed forces, Mr. Doe also did a lot of maintenance and machinist work involving plumbing, electrical power, utilities, insulation, boilers, water systems, pumps, and hydraulics.  He worked many years for a couple of the Wisconsin companies facing asbestos litigation or alleged to have some link to asbestos or mesothelioma.

Mr. Doe’s mesothelioma eventually killed him, but before he died, he was most worried about his family and how they would do after he passed.  Though he died shortly after I met him, we continued to work for his family and eventually recovered more than $3,500,000.00.

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.

Wisconsin asbestos mesothelioma lawyers

The Best Lawyers in America – Wisconsin Asbestos

The Best Lawyers in America Letter - Asbestos Wisconsin

I’m honored to share this letter I received today.  Very few Wisconsin personal injury lawyers are in The Best Lawyers in America, and I know of no lawyers in Wisconsin handling a significant number of asbestos victims’ asbestosis or mesothelioma cases who have been selected into this guide.  In fact, as far as I know, the only mesothelioma and asbestos lawyers in Wisconsin listed in The Best Lawyers in America are attorneys who defend asbestos companies and myself.

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.

WR Grace Asbestos Criminals

Here’s a Bloomberg article describing how one of those poor asbestos companies (sarcasm, see last post) was warned about how it was killing the people of Libby, Montana with its asbestos-laced vermiculite.

Closer to home, Wisconsin companies facing asbestos litigation or alleged to have some link to asbestos or mesothelioma include:

Alfa Laval Flow, Kenosha
Algoma Hardwood, Algoma
Allen Bradley, Milwaukee
Allied Glove Corporation a/k/a Allied Glove & Safety Products Corporation, Milwaukee
Allied Insulation Supply Co, Milwaukee
Allis Chalmers, Milwaukee
American Brass, Kenosha
A.O. Smith Corporation, Milwaukee
Appleton Coated Papers, Appleton
Appleton Gas Plant, Appleton
Appleton Wire, Appleton
Aqua-Chem Inc., Milwaukee
Army Corp of Engineers, Milwaukee
A W Chesterton Company
Badger Ordnance Works, Baraboo
Badger Meter Inc., Milwaukee
Badger Paper Mill, Peshtigo
Bay Shipbuilding, Sturgeon Bay
Bergstrom Paper, Appleton
Beloit Corporation a/k/a Regal-Beloit Corporation, Beloit
Blatz Brewery, Milwaukee
Brake Parts Inc., Manufacturer of Raybestos Brand Brakes, Waupaca
Briggs & Stratton Corp., Wauwatosa
Bucyrus-Erie a/k/a Bucyrus Foundry a/k/a Bucyrus International, Inc., South Milwaukee
Building Service Industrial Supply Inc, West Allis
Burger Boat, Manitowoc
CBS Corporation, New York
Charmin Paper, Green Bay
Christy Corporation, Sturgeon Bay
Cleaver Brooks, Milwaukee
Colt Industries, Janesville
Columbia Hospital, Milwaukee
Consolidated Paper, Wisconsin Rapids
Copes Vulcan Inc., Madison
Cooper Industries Inc, Houston
Cooper Power Systems, Franksville
Crucible Steel Casting, Milwaukee
CSR Limited, New Orleans
DaimlerChrysler Corporation, Kenosha
Dana Corporation, Brake and Chassis, McHenry, Illinois
Delphi Energy & Engine Management Systems, Milwaukee
Dielectric, Menomonee Falls
Eaton Corp
Eaton Electrical Inc
Edgewater Power Plant, Sheboygan
Falk Foundry, Milwaukee
Federal Mogul Corporation, Manitowoc
Federal-Mogul Corporation Piston Rings and Liners, Schofield
Federal-Mogul Corporation Sintered Valve Train and Transmission Products Waupun
Federal-Mogul Corporation Piston Rings and Liners, West Allis
First Wisconsin Center, Milwaukee
Fort Howard Paper Mill, Marinette
Foster Wheeler Energy Corp
Fox River Paper, Appleton
Garlock Sealing Technologies LLC
General Casting, Milwaukee
General Electric Company, Business Units: GE Capital, GE Industrial Systems, GE Lighting, GE Medical Systems, GE Plastics, GE Power Systems, GE Supply, Various Locations
General Motors Corporation, Delphi Electronics (formerly Delco), Milwaukee
General Signal Corp, Muskegon
Georgia-Pacific, Green Bay
Gladfelter Company, Neenah
GM Assembly, Janesville
Grede Foundries, Milwaukee
Harnischfeger, Milwaukee
Hennes Services Inc, West Milwaukee
Holy Family Hospital, Manitowoc
IMO Industries Inc
Industrial Holdings Corp
Ingersoll Rand
International Paper, Green Bay
Ipsen International Inc, Springfield, IL
J.I. Case, Racine
JP Pulliam Power Plant, Green Bay
Kewaunee Nuclear Plant, Kewaunee
Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Neenah
Kraft Foods, Beaver Dam
Ladish, Cudahy
Manitowoc Company, Manitowoc
Manitowoc Shipyard, Manitowoc
Marine Plaza, Milwaukee
Marquette Cement Plant, Milwaukee
Metlife Inc
Midalco Ltd
Miller Brewery, Milwaukee
Milwaukee Valve Company, Milwaukee
Mirro Aluminum, Manitowoc
Mosinee Paper, Mosinee
Neenah Foundry, Neenah
Nekoosa Edwards Paper, Nekoosa
Nelson Dewey Station, Cassville
Nicolet Paper, De Pere
Nohl Corp, Milwaukee
Northern States Power, La Crosse
Northridge, Milwaukee
Oak Creek Power Plant, Oak Creek
O I Inc
Owens Illinois Inc
Pabst Brewery, Milwaukee
Parkland Builders, Janesville
Pelton Steel, Beloit
Peterson Builders, Sturgeon Bay
Plastics Engineering Co., Sheboygan
Pope & Talbot, Eau Claire
Port Washington Power, Pt Washington
Rockland Builders, Janesville
Rexnord Nordberg, Milwaukee
St. Regis Paper, Rhinelander
Riley Power Inc
Rock River Power Plant, Rock River
Rockwell Automation, Milwaukee
Southridge, Milwaukee
S.C. Johnson, Racine
Saint Francis Hospital, Milwaukee
Saint Lukes Hospital, Milwaukee
Saint Michaels Hospital, Milwaukee
Secure Horizons
Sprinkmann Sons Corp, Milwaukee
SPX Corporation, Madison
Square D Company
Sturgeon Bay Shipbuilding, Sturgeon Bay
Svoboda Industries, Kewaunee
Theda Clark Medical Center, Appleton
Two Rivers Hospital, Two Rivers
U.S. Rubber, Eau Claire
Union Carbide Co
Unit Drop Forge, Milwaukee
Valley Power Plant, Milwaukee
Warren Pumps LLC
Waukesha Foundry Co. Inc., Waukesha
Wausau Paper Mill, Brokaw
Westinghouse
Weston Power Plant, Rothchild
Weyerhaeuser, Marshfield
Wisconsin Energy Corporation (WEC), Milwaukee
Wisconsin Electric Gas, WE Energies, WEPCO, Wisconsin Energies, Wisconsin Natural, and WICOR, locations throughout Wisconsin