Asbestos Lawyers for Families of Mesothelioma Stricken Electrician & Pipefitter from New York Obtain Two Verdicts Totaling $9 Million
Asbestos lawyers from LPK obtain two jury verdicts totaling $9 Million on behalf of two mesothelioma victims, a former electrician and pipefitter, and their wives. The verdicts are the first asbestos verdicts rendered against manufacturers of power cable, valves, and steam traps in New York State.
 NEW YORK, New York, December 17, 2007 – Today, asbestos lawyers from Levy Phillips & Konigsberg, LLP (“LPK”), obtained two verdicts totaling $9 Million on behalf of two mesothelioma victims and their wives. The jury verdicts are considered ground-breaking, as they were handed down against companies against whom no jury verdicts had ever been returned in the long history of asbestos litigation in New York.
The two cases (Rosenberg and Casale) were joined for a single trial before Justice Marcy S. Friedman at New York State Supreme Court of New York County.
The case of Joel and Sharon Rosenberg involved the asbestos exposure that Mr. Rosenberg sustained during his work as a life-long electrician in New York with Local Union No. 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers ("IBEW"). He started in the trade while still a teenager in 1960. Decades later, he was diagnosed with mesothelioma caused by the asbestos exposure that has taken place at a number of sites where Mr. Rosenberg had worked, including the Arthur Kill Powerhouse in Staten Island, the Vista Hotel in the Financial District of Manhattan, the Cross Bay Bridge, and the Deutsche Bank Building in New York City. He was exposed to asbestos fibers while performing ordinary, for an electrician, tasks, including the cutting, sawing, and skinning of wires and cables, which were insulated with asbestos.
In the Rosenberg case, the asbestos compensation verdict was rendered against a manufacturer of asbestos-containing power cable. This is the first verdict against a manufacturer of cable used in a commercial setting in the history of asbestos litigation in New York. The jury awarded $3 Million for Mr. Rosenberg's pain and suffering and $1 million for Mrs. Rosenberg’s loss of services and society.
Mr. Rosenberg was diagnosed with mesothelioma after he had retired. He died at the age of sixty-four.
 The Casale case involved the asbestos exposure of Joseph Casale during his career as a steamfitter (also known as pipefitter) in New York. At the time, steamfitters were unknowingly endangered by exposure to asbestos, which was being used on equipment they worked with, such as valves, steam traps, and boilers.
While still a teenager, Mr. Casale worked at shipyards, including the Brooklyn Navy Yard, as a member of the Local 638 Union of Steamfitters. Mr. Casale continued in the same union and worked in the same trade at job sites spread throughout New York City during the 1960s and 1970s. There, he was exposed to asbestos fibers used in various products including valves and steam traps, from both internal asbestos components and asbestos insulation that was applied to the products. Later in his life, he has developed pleural mesothelioma as a result of having been exposed to asbestos.
The jury awarded a total of $5 Million in the Casale case, calculated as follows:
- $1,500,000 for Mr. Casale's pain and suffering up to the date of the verdict;
- $1,500,000 for Mr. Casale's future pain and suffering;
- $1,000,000 for Mrs. Casale's loss of service and society up to the date of the verdict;
- $1,000,000 for Mrs. Casale's future loss of service and society.
In the Casale case, the jury returned a verdict against a manufacturer of valves, as well as a manufacturer of steam traps. This represents New York’s first asbestos compensation verdict involving valves and steam traps, and reportedly the nation’s first asbestos compensation verdict involving the use of steam traps.
Mr. Casale, who is living with mesothelioma at age of sixty-six, testified at trial. He has moved to Florida where he lives with his wife Dolores.
The asbestos lawyers who obtained these landmark verdicts were Jerome H. Block, Patrick J. Timmins, and Holly C. Peterson, all of Levy Phillips & Konigsberg, LLP, a mesothelioma law firm that prides itself in having won a number of landmark asbestos cases, including:
The firm’s mesothelioma attorneys have also been recognized on the list of Best Lawyers in America and Super Lawyers.
For over a quarter of a century, mesothelioma lawyers at Levy Phillips & Konigsberg, LLP, have been among the pioneers of asbestos litigation in America. The firm’s attorneys have been recognized as nationwide leaders in representing the rights of mesothelioma victims and their families. Their clients have received some of the largest mesothelioma compensation verdicts in the country. For more information about this or other mesothelioma lawsuits, please contact Levy Phillips & Konigsberg, LLP, at 212-605-6200 or 1-800-MESO-LAW (1-800-637-6529), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
ATTENTION:
Mesothelioma has no known cure and often causes severe pain, suffering, and other types of damage, such as loss of consortium, and loss of income. Additionally, due to the exceedingly high cost of mesothelioma treatments, many families exhaust savings and accumulate financial debt in order to pay for the medical expenses of their family member.
Under the law of most states, pain and suffering from mesothelioma may be compensated through the award of money damages, usually obtained with the help of experienced mesothelioma attorneys. In some states other types of damages may also be recovered.
Asbestos litigation affords mesothelioma victims the opportunity to receive financial compensation and hold accountable the companies that caused their asbestos exposure.
IMPORTANT:
If you or your family member has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, you should get in touch with a mesothelioma lawyer as early as possible to determine if you have a mesothelioma case and to:
- Preserve your rights to bring a legal action against the responsible parties within the limited time frame allowed by law, known as statute of limitations;
- Obtain maximum compensation in your case by being able to:
- Preserve evidence and establish facts of the asbestos exposure while the claimant is still alive and able to provide information;
- File and resolve a lawsuit against the responsible parties before they file for bankruptcy or, if they already have, to obtain compensation before their bankruptcy trust funds run out of money;
- Expedite your case, as courts tend to give higher priority to mesothelioma lawsuits where the claimant is still alive.
Find out whether you have a case by speaking to one of our experienced mesothelioma lawyers via our 24/7 toll-free hotline at 1-800-MESO-LAW (1-800-637-6529) or by submitting an email inquiry (see form above). Our attorneys will be quick to respond to you and happy to answer all of your questions.
NOTE:
While our offices are located in the states of New York, New Jersey, and Georgia, many of our mesothelioma lawyers are licensed to practice law in a number of U.S. states and have the capability and extensive experience of representing mesothelioma clients throughout the United States.
1 Joel Rosenberg and Sharon Rosenberg v. Alpha Wire Company, et al, No. 06-106697 (N.Y. Sup. Ct., New York County); 2Joseph Casale and Dolores Casale v. A.O. Smith Water Products Company, et al., No. 06-104299 (N.Y. Sup. Ct., New York County).
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