Mesothelioma Lawyers Verdicts and Settlements
Mesothelioma lawyers want to obtain compensation for you and your family for the wrongs done to you that caused your mesothelioma. If you are suffering from mesothelioma it is because you were exposed to lethal asbestos dust without your permission. In nearly all cases, the asbestos exposure occurred on the job – either at work or in the military.
Even though mesothelioma emerges decades after the exposure, which it typically does, skilled mesothelioma lawyers know how to investigate and discover what products and product manufacturers, distributors and other companies may be to blame.
Mesothelioma lawyers will then file a lawsuit on your behalf. The lawsuit will result in either a verdict or a settlement.
How Mesothelioma Lawyers View Verdicts vs. Settlements
You may have heard of “settlements” or “verdicts” in lawsuits where one party has suffered great harm and injury because of another party. But what is the difference between the two, and how do mesothelioma lawyers decide which outcome will be in your best interests?
A settlement is an out-of-court agreement. It means that two parties in a lawsuit have reached an agreement without completing all the legal proceedings of a full trial. In some cases when all the parties settle, that means no trial.
Mesothelioma lawyers seek to file a lawsuit on behalf of a client with mesothelioma against the persons and/or businesses that caused their mesothelioma due to negligence or deliberate wrongdoing. The plaintiff is the person suffering from mesothelioma and the defendants are the parties accused of causing this harm to the plaintiff. If the plaintiff’s mesothelioma lawyer files a lawsuit against defendants but the lawyers for both sides are able to reach a negotiated compensation agreement before or during civil court proceedings, this is considered a settlement. It generally involves an agreed upon sum of money to be paid to the plaintiff.
Either the plaintiff or the defendant may make the offer of a certain amount to be paid to the plaintiff to settle the case. The other side can choose to accept, counter or reject the offer.
Mesothelioma Lawyers and Trial Verdicts
A verdict or judgment is the final decision reached by a judge and/or jury in court proceedings. If your mesothelioma lawyers take your mesothelioma lawsuit to trial, both sides of the case will be heard. Then evidence will be evaluated in order to determine whether your opponents are guilty or not guilty. Unlike criminal court, where guilt must be proven “beyond a reasonable doubt,” the proof needed in a mesothelioma lawsuit is a “preponderance of evidence” in your favor. Preponderance is defined as most of the evidence.
If the defendant is found guilty, the jury may have the task of determining what amount of financial compensation the defendant will pay to the plaintiff. Mesothelioma lawyers will typically show evidence of the amount of compensation that should be awarded by reviewing current and future medical expenses, lost earnings and also the emotional impact that mesothelioma has had. Verdicts reached in civil court typically result in higher payouts to plaintiffs than settlements, but this can vary depending on specific factors in the case.
Why Mesothelioma Cases Settle
Mesothelioma lawyers sometimes advise their plaintiffs to settle mesothelioma cases out of court. This could be in your best interests so you can avoid a long courtroom battle. Whether your particular case goes to court and results in a verdict will depend on the circumstances, such as the defendants willingness to pay fair settlements and your determination to seek maximum compensation even if it means going to trial. Your mesothelioma lawyers should discuss your options ahead of time to determine whether settling out of court or going to trial will be best for you , and regularly revisit this subject as the trial continues.
Mesothelioma Lawyers Who Win Multimillion Dollar Verdicts
When mesothelioma lawyers are among the best at what they do, they often win large multi-million dollar verdicts for their clients. These clients are people who were wrongfully exposed to asbestos and are facing the tragic consequences.
Kazan Law in Oakland, California is a firm of mesothelioma lawyers who are rated as one of the premier mesothelioma law firms in the U.S. Kazan Law won some of the first major victories for victims of asbestos exposure in the U.S. since it started over forty years ago. Kazan Law helped establish asbestos litigation as a legal specialty and went on to win some of the biggest monetary verdicts for their clients.
Today well into the 21st century, Kazan Law’s dedication to legal excellence and justice for asbestos victims continues to result in major verdicts. These verdicts gain Kazan Law recognition in the legal profession among their peers in the United States and throughout the world.
- $32,800,000 – In 2016, Kazan Law won a California jury verdict for their client, a foundry worker for American Optical Corporation in Los Angeles, California, of $22.8 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages for marketing a faulty respirator. Our client used a faulty American Optical respirator for 17 years expecting that it would protect him from breathing asbestos dust.
- $6,951,000 – In 2015, a California jury returned a verdict, after a six-week trial, in favor of Kazan Law’s client a boilermaker by trade. The jury found Union Pacific Railroad Company responsible for the suffering and wrongful death of our client who worked as a boilermaker at the Southern Pacific Railroad from 1971 to 1995. The award consisted of $6,500,000 in pain and suffering damages in the mesothelioma lawsuit. The court had already determined that Mr. Emerson’s economic damages totaled $451,265 bringing the total of the verdict to $6,951,000.
- $29,270,000 – In 2014, Kazan Law received first place ranking for highest wrongful death verdict amount in California. The recognition was bestowed by the legal profession’s leading publication The Recorder in its review of top verdicts. The $11,800,000 wrongful death verdict followed a two-phase trial verdict Kazan Law won on behalf of the family in previous years. In December 2010, the jury awarded $3,900,000 million in compensatory damages. In January 2011, Kazan Law obtained $13,500,000 in punitive damages. The verdict total amounted to $29,270,000.
- $27,342,500 – In another recent case, the $27, 342,500 verdict won by Kazan Law for a client made the National Law Journal’s exclusive list of Top 100 Verdicts for 2013. The verdict covered damages for pain and suffering, loss of companionship and economic damages.