A personal injury lawyer who has dedicated his life to campaigning for compensation for asbestos victims today claims that a new High Court Ruling indicates a landmark victory for asbestos victims.Solicitor and personal injury expert Peter Hankins has given over 30 years of his life to the cause, fighting tooth and nail for the ex-employees of former Chalford-based asbestos firm Fibrecrete and their families.

Many became terminally ill after their jobs at the firm brought them into close contact with the dangerous substance. The families of workers at the factory were also put at personal risk through contact with contaminated workers, in addition to facing the pain of losing loved ones.

The case has been ongoing due to the slow appearance of the effects of working with asbestos, which can manifest themselves years later in the form of aggressive cancers.

The latest twist in the rollercoaster trail of legal successes and setbacks comes with this month’s test case judgment defeating insurers, who were reluctant to validate ongoing payouts to ill workers. “It is a milestone. I feel enormous relief for the families involved,” said Mr Hankins, consultant to Rowcroft solicitors AES Winterbothams.

“This is probably one of the most aggressively fought areas of injury and disease in my professional life,” he said.

“This is also a very important case for Stroud as the lead defendant insurer was BAI and six test case victims defeated the insurers.”

Mr Hankins maintains that the insurer, BAI, had gone along for years with the payouts to the ex employees of Fibrecrete, before arguing in 2007 that the payments should only begin once symptoms of the associated diseases began to manifest themselves.

For many victims, diseases such as mesothelioma and lung cancer which are caused by exposure to the dangerous asbestos particles do not develop until up to 30 years after the original contact, by which point the majority of insurance policies would have expired.

Luckily after 6 weeks of arguing, the High Court found in favour of Mr Hankins and the ex employees of Fibrecrete.

“If they’d won there would have been nothing more disappointing than finding that, after working through a case with either a very ill person or a widow, that there was no insurance policy to pay out their compensation,” Mr Hankins said.

“These men are totally innocent but die dreadful deaths with these illnesses. There are also the wives and daughters who washed their clothes for them and inhaled the asbestos particles. These women had not done anything wrong and yet they too are deprived of their health.”

Mr Hankins, who said he came into his profession on a vocation to “right all wrongs”, expects asbestos cases to peak in about 2015.

“During the test case litigation BAI admitted that over the last two years they had rejected 284 fatal mesothelioma claims, whose f families are consequently still awaiting compensation averaging £125,000 each, which is a total of a staggering £35.5 million,” Mr Hankins said.

At the 2008 President’s Cancer Panel in September, medical experts demanded that the industrial manslaughter of millions of American workers be addressed including the use of asbestos that causes an incurable form of lung cancer known as mesothelioma. Most comments derived from a professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at SUNY Downstate Medical Center.Jeanne Mager Stellman, PhD, told the panel that “decades had been wasted on examining the problem of carcinogens” at work and caused health issues among US employees. Dr. Stellman also explained to the panel that the government was responsible for the “lack of the will to prevent occupational disease, death and disability” among workers across the United States.

The President’s Cancer Panel is made up of individuals who with to “improve the investment in preventing cancers” that harm US citizens; the panel is an extension of the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

However, Dr. Stellman, who gave a deposition of industrial carcinogens claimed that the toxic effects felt by many workers had manifested through the years and eventually caused the development of cancer among thousands, and basically stated that the panel was not doing enough to protect workers from carcinogens such as asbestos in the workplace.

Where Is Asbestos Used?

Considered a carcinogen, asbestos has been classified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Deriving from vermiculite mines, asbestos was used in the construction of millions of homes and products until it was banned in the 1970s and 1980s. NCI reports that the wide-spread use of asbestos cannot be reveresed:

* cement

* hot water pipes

* plastics

* insulation

* roofing

* fireproofing

* sound absorption

* boilers

* steam pipes

* vehicle brake shoes and clutch pads

* ceiling and floor tiles

* paints

* coatings

* adhesives

Mesothelioma As ‘Industrial Manslaughter’

Dr. Stellman described to the panel that the carcinogens that industrial workers were exposed to was “ongoing industrial manslaughter” and that through research and records obtained from insulators belonging to a trade union there were and are extreme “cancer risks associated with asbestos and to the widespread control of asbestos that now exists.” safe

The EPA is currently responsible for the safe cleanup and disposal of asbestos in American homes, offices, apartment buildings, universities, schools, hospitals, est. However, according to a Seattle Post Intelligencer article from 2007, the EPA has had a “flawed system of examination and cleanup” of several hundred factories that had at one point processed asbestos or contained asbestos-contaminated vermiculite.

Developing Mesothelioma Cancer

According to the NCI, individuals who are at risk for developing asbestos-induced illnesses include those “exposed to asbestos in their workplace, their communities, or their homes.”

It is imperative that those feeling they were exposed to asbestos contact medical assistance as soon as possible. Additionally, the NCI explains that several signs and symptoms that indivduals can watch for to determine if they may be developing mesothelioma include:

* fatigue

* anemia

* weight loss, loss of appetite

* swelling of the neck or face

* difficulty swallowing

* pain or tightening in the chest

* coughing up blood

* persistent, worsening cough

* shortness of breath

* continued wheezing and hoarseness

Individuals who have been exposed to asbestos fibers or asbestos dust are advised to contact an experienced mesothelioma attorney who can provide a free legal consultation as to the development of a mesothelioma lawsuit. Litigation that is developed surrounding the exposure to asbestos may be able to provide a return on monetary compensation to assist in paying expensive medical bills commonly associated with mesothelioma treatments.

A campaigning lawyer has stated that a new High Court ruling is a landmark victory for dozens of asbestos victims in the Stroud Valleys.Lawyer, Peter Hankins has looked at industrial injuries compensation for more than 30 years for ex-employees of former Chalford-bases asbestos firm Fibrecrete and their families, who were commonly made terminally ill having worked for the company.

Hankins said that the court ruling for insurance companies to pay out compensation for when a worker was exposed to asbestos and not when the symptoms appeared was a great improvement.

Hankins stated: “It is a milestone. I feel enormous relief for the families involved. This is probably one of the most aggressively fought areas of injury and disease in my professional life.”

Fibrecrete closed in 1971 but asbestos and similar illnesses have an incredibly long tail, or lead in time.

Mr Hankins commented: “If they’d won there would have been nothing more disappointing than finding that, after working through a case with either a very ill person or a widow, that there was no insurance policy to pay out their compensation.”

He furthered: “These men are totally innocent but die dreadful deaths with these illnesses. There are also the wives and daughters who washed their clothes for them and inhaled the asbestos particles. These women had not done anything wrong and yet they too are deprived of their health.”

Currently, it is thought that there are around 1,500 mesothelioma deaths a year in the UK, four or five of which are in Stroud.

Hankins said that he came into the lawyer profession on an ideal to “right all the wrongs” and he expects asbestos claims to increase in 1015.

Due to the BAI rejecting compensation claims many workers have suffered this work disease without court sympathy but BAI admitted that the rejection of hundreds of cases will lead to huge settlements.

Mr Hankins stated: “During the test case litigation BAI admitted that over the last two years they had rejected 284 fatal mesothelioma claims, whose families are consequently still awaiting compensation averaging £125,000 each, which is a total of a staggering £35.5 million.”

Asbestos cases can be difficult Many injury lawyers have found asbestos cases difficult, and until now, these cases were difficult to prove. Adrian Budgen, head of industrial disease litigation commented on his findings and on the new court ruling.

Budgen said that the number of work disease victims were huge: “It was hugely challenging because of the sheer scale of the litigation and the number of parties involved.”

Adrian then commented on the new ruling: “Mr Justice Burton found that the four insurers (BAI, Excess, Independent and MMI) were liable to provide an indemnity in respect of negligent exposure to asbestos during their policy periods.”

The new court ruling will hopefully give a new lease of life to the families who have lost loved ones to the disease.

Maureen Edwards who lost her father was happy with the decision: “My dad would have been proud that we have finally achieved justice for him, but he would have been disgusted by the lengths the insurers went to get out of paying.”

General-secretary of Unite, Derek Simpson stated it was a “hugely important victory for the victims of the deadly dust and for their families”.

Court Decisions that Protect and Compensate Asbestos WorkersAsbestos is a dangerous substance that causes the debilitating disease of asbestosis, and the fatal cancer, mesothelioma. Asbestos workers are exposed to scarring asbestos fibers in excessive amounts on a daily basis. Employers who ignore the dangers won’t be ignored by the courts.

Asbestosis and mesothelioma affects asbestos workers around the world. National and international lawyers and judges are making room on their desks for voluminous stacks of medical records that are entered as evidence in mass litigation proceedings for asbestos workers who were unaware, and unprotected, from the dangers of inconspicuous deadly asbestos fibers. Employers have the responsibility to protect the safety and health of the employees, and in today’s modern societies, it is legally mandatory for employers to protect their employees from danger. Company fines and business closures can result for those companies that put profit over people, and so can litigation resulting in millions of dollars of compensation paid to injured workers.

Asbestos workers have joined together to set precedent court decisions in asbestos cases that will facilitate faster trial decisions and undermine confusion in the interpretations of the occupational laws. Many workers, however, do not receive just compensation. Lack of medical records, multiple possible causes of lung disease, unawareness of the right to legal compensation, or the lack of legal representation, prevents many asbestos workers from receiving their just compensation for asbestosis or mesothelioma.

Although workers compensation cases have been recognized in the courts since the 1920s, the first US trial against an asbestos product wasn’t held until 1966 by plaintiff Claude Tomplait. The case lasted three years, and the decision was made on behalf of the defendant. In 1969, Claude’s lawyer then represented Clarence Borel, a co-worker of Claude’s, against the same defendant. This case lasted four years, and in 1973, a historical landmark decision was made on behalf of the plaintiff, Clarence Borel (Borel v. Fibreboard Paper Prods. Corp., 493 F.2d 1076 (5th Cir. 1973). It was officially deemed that not only must manufacturers must warn consumers of danger, but they are responsible for staying informed with regard to scientific discoveries that have an impact on their products. If a manufacturer fails to do so, they will be liable for physical harm. Since 1973, there have been well over 100,000 asbestos cases filed in US courts. Asbestos cases are currently the longest mass tort in US Court history. In 1982, court opinion in Beshada (Beshada v. Johns-Manville Products Corp., 442 A.2d 539 (N.J. 1982)), humanely stated, “the burden of illness…should fall on those who profit from its production…”, throwing out a “state of business practices at the time” defense that defendant asbestos companies were praying upon for relief.

Around the world, the deadly consequences of working with asbestos is gaining increased recognition, and asbestos workers are gaining increased support in their court bids for compensation of asbestosis and mesothelioma. In 1989, Australia established the Dust Diseases Tribunal for asbestos cases, and in 1991, Australia banned asbestos. In 2005, the European Union followed with their own ban on asbestos. In the UK, a compensation fund for asbestos workers diagnosed with mesothelioma has been established within the Department of Societal Development. This fund disperses payment to mesothelioma patients within a week of the diagnosis of mesothelioma and reduces the risk of a mesothelioma patient dying before receiving a settlement (which frequently happens with lengthy civil trials).

Asbestosis and mesothelioma patients suffering from incurable and fatally progressive diseases due to employer negligence and manufacturer’s disregard for danger are due compensation for their pain, and employers are beginning to pay. Sadly, employers have to pay with their bank accounts, but asbestos workers have to pay with their life.