For over five decades, Jon Gelman has represented thousands of individuals who have become ill because of exposure to asbestos fiber. He is the author of a nationally recognized treatise, now in its 3rd edition, on the subject. Jon Gelman has lectured extensively on asbestos litigation. On behalf of his clients, he has successfully brought claims against the suppliers, manufacturers, and health research groups of asbestos fiber and products. These claims are usually called product liability cases.
Resolution of the claim may involve several avenues: litigation (individual or consolidated with other cases), a class action, a court-approved settlement, an administrative claim or settlement, or a claim filed in bankruptcy. How your case is prosecuted will depend on what companies are responsible for and the present economic/legal status of the company.
What Asbestos Is Asbestos is a naturally occurring fibrous mineral widely used in manufacturing various products beginning in the late nineteenth century. Although most of the asbestos exposure occurred between 1940 and 1980 in occupations such as construction, shipyards, railroads, insulation, sheet metal, automobile repair, and other related fields, asbestos exposure continues today.
Asbestos Exposure Asbestos fibers are inhaled by workers and remain in the lungs, where they can cause disease. Fibers are also inhaled by family members or any other person encountering asbestos wherever it may be. The evidence shows that the companies that manufactured these products knew that their products would injure people. They actively conspired to hide this information to keep selling their products. As a result, they are now being held liable for the resulting injuries.
Diseases Caused by Asbestos Exposure It is generally medically accepted that asbestos can cause various types of lung disease, including pleural changes, with or without impairment, and asbestosis, which is fibrosis or scarring of the lungs, also with or without impairment. Also associated with asbestos exposure are certain cancers of the lung, and a very rare cancer of the lining of the lung, or lining of the stomach, called mesothelioma.
In certain limited circumstances, there has been an association between asbestos exposure and other cancers of the digestive tract such as esophageal, laryngeal, kidney, stomach, and colon-rectum cancers. What is a latency period?
A Long Period Between Exposure and Disease The time between exposure to asbestos and developing the disease is called the latency period. The average latency period for the asbestos-related illness is typically ten to twenty years from the first exposure. However, in some, more rare instances, diseases may develop in shorter or longer time frames.
Asbestos Treatment Guidelines – National Cancer Institute Malignant Mesothelioma Treatment (PDQ®) Patient Version – National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Product Identification An essential element is to determine and prove which asbestos companies' products caused exposure to you. Product identification is a crucial aspect of the claim. You may have been exposed to asbestos fiber in the products you not only worked with but those products in the area where you worked or lived.
Litigation When a lawsuit against certain companies, it is called litigation. A case must be filed within a certain period of time as permitted by a Statute of Limitations. This period varies from state to state. Suing requires the preparation of a case for trial, including depositions and interrogatories (questions answered under oath). Settlements may occur during the prosecution. Certain defendants may settle before trial or during a trial.
Bankruptcy Claims Continue Many companies that may be responsible for your asbestos injury are under protecting the bankruptcy court and may have separate claim procedures.
The list of asbestos companies include: 48 Insulation Amatex Babcock & Wilcox Eagle Picher GatkeH.K. Porter Johns Manville Keene Corporation Nicolet PaycorPittsburgh Corning and Celotex Raybestos Manhattan UNR (Unarco) These are in various stages of bankruptcy which will affect how, when and if you will ever receive compensation from them.
Who Has Been Exposed to Asbestos Many occupations and lifestyles have a history of exposure to high levels of asbestos fiber. If you have engaged in one or more of these occupations, you may wish to discuss this exposure with your physician. It is always important to tell your doctor of your history of asbestos exposure, whether direct or indirect. Besides these trades, all residents of towns with former asbestos manufacturing plants and all household residents of exposed workers are at risk of developing asbestos-related medical conditions.
Some Sites in NJ Where Asbestos Was Present 3M Abex/American Brake Shoe American Cyanamid American Gas Furnace American Hoechst American Smelting/ASARCO American Standard American Standard AMF Anaconda Copper Anheuser Busch Asbestos Corporation Limited Asbestos Job Sites in NJ Asbestos plant workers Asbury Park Convention Hall Ashland Chemical Ashland Oil AT&T/Bell Atlantic City Electric Atlantic City High School Atlantic City Hospital Atlantic City Post Office Atlantic City Power-Deep Water Plant Atlantic City Press Auto mechanic Badische/BASF Ballentine Brewery Bally's Casino Bamberger's Barnert Memorial Hospital Basking Ridge High School Basking Ridge Post Office Bayer Aspirin Bayonne Hospital Bayway Refinery (Exxon) Beecham Pharmaceutical Belle Mead Army Depot Belleville Hospital Benjamin Moore Paint Bergen Community College Delco Battery Demolition workers Dept of Transportation Diamond Shamrock Diehl Manufacturing Douglas College Dover General Hospital Drew Chemical Drew University Drywall tapes Duck Island Powerhouse DuPont Dwight Morrow High School East Brunswick High School East Hanover Elementary School Eastman Kodak Educational Testing Service Elizabeth Chemical Elizabeth General Hospital Elizabethtown Gas Elizabethtown Water Eljay Chemical Engelhard Engineers Englewood Hospital Enjay Chemical Eric Lackawanna Railroad Essex Chemical Essex County Court House Esso Oil Esso Refinery Ethicon Ortho Pharmaceutical Ewing High School Ewing Township Exxon Bayonne Refinery Exxon Bayway Refinery Exxon Refinery Exxon Research Fairleigh Dickinson College Insulators Inter Chemical Corp. Intermediate School International Harvester International Nickel Ironworkers ITT Continental Baking Ivy Hill Apartments Ivy Hill School J.C. Penney J.I. Hass Co. J.M. Huber Co. J.O./Midland Ross J.P. Stevens James Mitchell School Jefferson School Jersey Billets Jersey City Power & Light Jersey City Sewerage Jersey City State College Jersey Shore Medical Center JFK High School JFK Hospital Johns-Manville Johnson & Johnson Justice Complex Kalco Chemical Kean College Keansburg High School Kearny High School Kearny Post Office Keasbey Kenilworth Keyport Koppers Coke Korvettes L'Oreal Cosmetics Laborers Lawrenceville High School Lawrenceville Prep School Lehman Brothers Corp. Lever Brothers Lily Tulip Nabisco Napco Chemical National Gypsum National Industrial Supply National Lead National Park National Starch National State Bank Naval Air Engineering Center Naval Reserve Armory Naval Supply Depot Nestle's/Nescafe New Brunswick Borough Hall New Brunswick High School New Brunswick Vocational School New Jersey Medical Center New Milford High School New Monmouth High School Newark Academy Newark Airport Newark College of Engineering Newark College of Medicine Newark High School Newark Main Library Newark Museum Newark News NJ Chemical Co. NJ Dept. of Education NJ Natural Gas NJ Natural Gas NJ Shipbuilding NJ State Hospital NJ State House NJ State Museum NJ State Police HQ NJ SteelH.K. Porter ALCOA Alexian Brothers Hospital Allied Chemical Bergen County Court House Bergen Mall Bergen Pines Hospital Bergen Powerhouse Bergen Record Bergen Technical School Bernardsville Bernardsville Elementary School Bernardsville High School Best Foods Bethlehem Steel Shipyard Bloomingdale's Blue Cross/Blue Shield Boilermakers Brake mechanics Breyer's Ice Cream Brick Memorial High School Bridgeton High School Bridgeton Hospital Bridgewater High School Bridgewater/Somerville Bristol Meyers/Squibb Broadway Junior High School Brooklyn Navy Yard Burlington County School Burlington Court House Burlington Hospital Camden Street School Camp Kilmer Campbell Soup Canada Dry Cape May Court House Cape May Library Carborundum Carborundum Carney's Point Cathedral of the Sacred Heart Celanese Celotex/Philip Carey Farmer's Market Building Federal Court House Federal Office Building Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Federal Shipyard Felician College Finderne Fireman's Fund Insurance First National Bank Flintkote FMC Ford Motor Forked River Fort Dix Fort Monmouth Army Base Freehold High School Freehold Raceway GAF Garden State Paper Garden State Plaza Garden State Racetrack Garfield Post Office Gateway Complex General Chemical General Chemical General Electric General Foods/Maxwell House General Motors George Washington School Gillespie Gimbel's Givauden Corp. Glassboro State College Glen Gardner Godiva Chocolate Governor Morris Hotel Grasselli Station Grasselli/Linden Graystone Park Hospital Great Adventure Linden Chemical Linden Grammar School Linden High School Linden Housing Project Linden Oil Fields Linden Vocational School Lipton Tea Livingston College Livingston Mall Livingston School Long Branch High School long Branch Library Longshoremen Steamfitters Lord & Taylor Lyndhurst High School M & M Candies Machinists Mack Motors/Mack Truck Mack Truck Madison High School Madison Junior High Madison Monroe School Maintenance workers Mallinckrodt Chemical Manalapan High School Manalapan School Maplewood High School Maplewood Library Marcal Paper Marlboro School Marlboro State Hospital Martin Luther King School Masons Mathers Springs Mays Landing County Jail McGraw Hill McGuire Air Force Base Mead Container Plant Meadow View Village Medical Arts Building Medical Center of Newark Memorial General Hospital Memorial High School NJ Taxation Building NJ Telephone NJ Training School NJ Turnpike Authority NJ Veterans' Home Nopco Chemical North Bergen North Hudson Hospital Nuodex NY Central Railroad NY Shipbuilding Occidental Petroleum Okonite Orange Ortho Pharmaceutical Otis Elevator Overbrook Hospital Overlook Hospital Owens Corning Fiberglas Pabst Brewery Pan American Steamship Pantasote Paragon Oil Paramus Fashion Center Mall Paramus Park Mall Paramus Recreation Center Park United Methodist Church Parkway House Parlin Post Office Passaic City Hall Passaic County Community College Passaic County Court House Passaic General Hospital Passaic Herald News Passaic High School Passaic Metal Products Passaic Valley Sewerage Authority Paterson General HospitalPittsburgh Allied/Bendix Amerada-Hess American Can Central High School Central Jersey Railroad Channel 13 Charms Chatham High School Cheesebrough Ponds Cherry Hill High School Cherry Hill Medical Center Chock Full of Nuts Christ Hospital Christopher Columbus School Ciba Geigy Ciba Geigy/Toms River Chemical Cities Service Refinery City Federal Savings & Loan Clara Maas Hospital Claridge Hospital Clorox Coastal Eagle Point Coastal Oil Refinery Coca Cola Colgate Palmolive Colony North Apartments Community Memorial Hospital Congoleum Nairn Continental Can Continental Copper & Steel Convention Hall Cranford Municipal Building Cranford Post Office Cresent Park Towers Crucible Steel Cumberland County College Cumberland County Jail Curtiss-Wright Custodians Deepwater Grover Cleveland Jr. H.S. Hackensack Hospital Hackettstown Elementary Haddonfield High School Hamilton Township Library Hampshire House Hancocks Bridge Hartz Mountain Hatco Chemical Health & Agriculture Building Helene Fuld Hospital Hemminger Co. Herbert Hoover School Hercules Hills Brothers Coffee Hoboken High School Hoboken Shipyard Hoffman LaRoche Holiday Inn Holland Township Holmdel Holy Angels Academy Holy Name Hospital Hooker/Occidental Chemical Hope Creek Nuclear Power Station Hospital of Medicine & Dentistry Howard Johnson Howard Savings Bank Hudson County Admin. Building Hunterdon State College Hunterdon State School Hyatt Regency IBM IMC Chemical Group Industrial Liquid Chemical Company Industrial plant workers Ingersoll Rand Inmount Chemical Mennen Mercedes Benz Mercer Airport Mercer County Community College Mercer County Court Mercer Hospital Mercer Vocational School Merchant Marine Merck Merrill Lynch Metal lathers Metropolitan Insurance Metropolitan Refractories Middlesex County College Milford Elementary School Military Ocean Terminal Military Park Building Miller Housing Millington Millville High School Mobay Chemical Mobil Chemical Mobil Oil Monmouth College Monmouth Junction Monmouth Mall Monsanto Chemical Montclair High School Montclair Post Office Montclair State College Morris County College Morris County Court Morristown Museum Morristown State Hospital Mount Holly Court House Mount Holly Hospital Mountainside Hospital Muhlenberg Hospital Mundet Cork/Crown Cork Municipal Building Municipal Electrical Plant Murray Hill Mutual Benefit Life Paterson High School Pathmark Peddie School Peerless Tube Peerless Tube Pipe coverers Pipefitters Carpenters Plasters Plumbers Power plant workers Powerhouse Powerhouse workers Railroad workers Refinery Ridgefield Power Station Roofers Roofers Salem Nuclear Powerhouse Sheetmetal workers Skillman Standard Oil Sunoil Company Sunoil Refinery Telephone repairmen Texaco Refinery Tile setters Todd Shipyard Tosco Refining U.S. Navy personnel US Army Transp Corp Welders USS National Valero Energy Willow Island Electric Plant Yards Creek
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If you are interested in discussing a potential case, please contact us: jon@gelmans.com or 1-973-696-7900.