A Los Angeles jury found brake manufacturer Pneumo Abex had been aware of the deadly health effects of breathing asbestos dust, but did not begin warning its customers of those effects until decades later. (Robert Frank Smith and Mary Lou Smith v. Pneumo Abex LLC, Los Angeles County Superior Court Docket No. BC396072) On March […]

An Oakland, California jury found RSCC Wire & Cable, manufacturer of Rockbestos asbestos insulated wire and cable products, guilty by failing to adequately warn consumers and customers of the dangers its wire products posed, its negligence, and its malicious and oppressive misconduct. (Ronald Merrill Ricker and Suzanna Ricker v. RSCC Wire & Cable, Inc., Alameda […]

An Alameda County, California jury found that manufacturers Pneumo Abex, Arvin Meritor, and Carlisle Corporation defectively designed their brakes, failed to adequately warn consumers and customers of the dangers the brakes posed, were negligent, and intentionally concealed information that could have prevented harm, and acted with malice, fraud and oppression, warranting a second phase determination. […]

A Hayward, California jury found Ford Motor Company guilty of defectively designed products, failure to warn of product defect, and negligence. (Patrick Scott and Sharon Scott v. Allied Packing & Supply, Ford Motor Company, et al, Alameda County Superior Court No. RG12613671) On November 19, 2012, an Alameda County jury in Hayward, California returned a […]

An Oakland, California jury found Crane Co, a manufacturer of industrial products, liable for a man’s mesothelioma after hearing evidence showing that Crane Co corporate officers knew or should have known as early as the 1930s that asbestos causes diseases that kill. (Hellam v. Crane Co., Nos. A138013 and A139141, 2014 WL 1492725 Cal. Ct. […]

As soon as possible, we ask the court to put the case on the trial calendar. When a client is in poor health, we shorten the discovery process and ask the judge to expedite the case by moving it rapidly to the top of the trial calendar. A long period of discovery is a luxury […]

How old is your firm? How much will it cost me for you to investigate my claim? How soon after I am exposed to asbestos should I file a lawsuit? How do I know if I have an asbestos disease? I’m not sure about suing. Can I take some time to decide? I don’t live […]

The first asbestos products lawsuit, asbestos litigation, was filed on December 10, 1966, in Beaumont, Texas, by attorney Ward Stephenson on behalf of his client, Claude Tomplait, who had been diagnosed with asbestosis in July of that year. The defendants were eleven manufacturers of asbestos-containing insulation products, including Johns-Manville, Fibreboard and Owens Corning Fiberglas. The […]

Partner After graduating from law school, partner Francis E. Fernandez worked for several years as a labor lawyer for the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board, United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO, and the California Department of Occupational Health & Safety (Cal-OSHA.) During the next six years he represented the most powerless and unorganized segment of […]