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Dedicated to Helping Patients and Families Throughout Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin
Kohler-Andrea State Park, near Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Financial Compensation and Justice for Patients and Families Impacted by Mesothelioma Throughout the Midwest
Our team will investigate your case, identify asbestos exposures and responsible products and parties, and fight to ensure that you receive the financial compensation you deserve.
Every case starts with a conversation. We listen to your experience, answer your questions, and explain your options. There is no cost, no obligation, and no risk.
Direct access to your legal team
You will have direct access to the team working on your case. We keep you informed at every stage and answer your questions in plain language.
No attorney fees unless we win
We investigate your exposure history, identify responsible parties and products, and pursue claims against asbestos defendants and trust funds. You pay no attorney fees and are not responsible for any costs unless we are successful in obtaining compensation for you.
What you need to know
Four things patients and families ask us about first, in plain language.
Reviewed by Jon Neumann, Founding Partner · Last reviewed
The reality of asbestos exposure
For much of the 20th century, thousands of products contained asbestos. Asbestos was used in construction, manufacturing, shipbuilding, power plants, paper mills, and refineries. Products like insulation, automotive brakes and clutches, drywall and joint compound, and even talcum powder, cosmetics, and makeup products contained asbestos. Workers and consumers were exposed to respirable asbestos fibers without knowing that products or materials were asbestos-containing or without knowing the hazards associated with asbestos.
Why file a legal claim and pursue financial compensation?
Mesothelioma care is costly. Patients and families often face out-of-pocket expenses for treatment and care, specialized cancer centers, clinical trials, home healthcare, and income lost if patients can no longer work.
Pursuing financial compensation is a way to seek justice and hold the companies that caused patients to be exposed to asbestos and develop mesothelioma accountable. Financial recovery eases the burden on patients and their families.
Overcoming the challenges of time
It is common for patients to worry that because their exposures to asbestos occurred 20 to 50 years ago, they will not be able to develop the evidence necessary to obtain financial recovery.
You are not expected to recall every job that you worked or every product that you used or worked with. Our experienced team will investigate your complete exposure history through interviews, employment and military records, historical data, and corporate documents.
The importance of prompt action
Every state sets a statute of limitations, or deadline by which plaintiffs must pursue claims, and courts enforce these deadlines strictly. In many cases the clock starts at the date of diagnosis, so reaching out soon matters.
Statute of limitations deadlines differ in Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin and the deadlines can be fact specific, so please contact us to learn exactly how much time applies to you.
Where Midwestern workers were exposed to asbestos
Asbestos was used throughout the industries that powered the Midwest. If you or a loved one worked in one of them, we can help trace where and how the asbestos exposure happened, even if it was 20 to 50 years ago.
Reviewed by Jon Neumann, Founding Partner · Last reviewed
Illinois
●Steel mills and foundries
●Refineries and chemical plants
●Power plants and utilities
●Railroads and rail yards
●Construction and the building trades
●Heavy manufacturing and machine shops
●Chicago, Decatur, Joliet, Peoria, and Rockford area manufacturing and construction
●Naval Station Great Lakes
Minnesota
●Great Lakes shipping in Duluth, including ore boats, docks, and engine and boiler rooms aboard ships
●Duluth–Superior shipyards and ship repair
●Paper and pulp mills
●Refineries and power plants
●Railroads
●Twin Cities area manufacturing and construction
Wisconsin
●Fox River Valley paper and pulp mills
●Foundries and heavy machinery plants
●Fire door manufacturing in Algoma and Marshfield
●Shipbuilding on Lake Michigan and Lake Superior
●Power plants and utilities
●Railroads and the Great Lakes ports
●Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Beloit, and Sheboygan area manufacturing and construction
Exposure to asbestos is not limited to the workplace
Asbestos fibers unknowingly carried home on work clothes may have exposed the children and spouses of workers. Asbestos was also used in home building, repair, and remodeling products and materials, and in automotive brakes, clutches, gaskets, and auto body products.
Asbestos in the home
Homes built decades ago may contain asbestos in flooring and flooring adhesives, popcorn ceilings and ceiling tiles, joint compound for drywall, roofing, siding, caulk and window glaze products, and insulation (including vermiculite) used in attics, on piping systems, and on boilers and furnaces. Materials left undisturbed generally pose little hazard, but scraping, sanding, drilling, cutting, or removing them can release asbestos fibers into the air.
Asbestos exposure can also come from “shade tree” mechanic work, meaning repairs people do on their own cars and trucks. Parts and materials that may contain asbestos include brake shoes on vehicles with drum brake systems, disc brakes on vehicles with disc brake systems, clutches, and automotive gaskets, as well as auto body fillers, putties, and glazes. Sanding, grinding, cutting, or blowing dust off these parts and materials can release asbestos fibers into the air, and the fibers can settle on clothing and be carried into the home.
Asbestos has been found in talcum powder, makeup, and cosmetics products.
People can be exposed to asbestos through their own use of consumer products that contain talc, including:
Talcum powder
Baby powder
Scented body powder and dusting powder
After-shower powder
Foot powder
Men’s aftershave talc
Loose face powder
Pressed face powder
Other cosmetic and makeup products containing talc
Applying powder, makeup, and cosmetic products can create respirable dust. When the talc in powder, makeup, and cosmetic products is contaminated with asbestos, users can be exposed to respirable asbestos fibers. You do not need to remember every brand or product you used. We investigate that for you.
These are the questions patients and families ask us most often.
Reviewed by Jon Neumann, Founding Partner · Last reviewed
I don’t know how I was exposed. Can I still pursue compensation?+
Yes. Most patients cannot identify every job or location where they were exposed to asbestos or every product or material that they worked with or around that was asbestos-containing. Through a thorough investigation, we will work to identify every exposure that may have contributed to your mesothelioma diagnosis. We will use your work and military history, employment and military service records, and conversations and interviews with family members, friends, and coworkers to develop your case. You do not have to know how you were exposed to asbestos. We will use our resources and experience to figure that out.
I know I was exposed, but I can’t prove it.+
Civil cases are held to a lower standard of proof than criminal cases, which often require elements of a crime to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. You do not need documents for every job or exemplars of the products and materials that caused you to be exposed to asbestos. The recollections of the patient, co-workers, friends, or family can be an important part of proving exposure. We gather and develop the evidence, so no one should hold back from calling because they think they lack proof.
My employer is long gone.+
While a patient’s prior employment history is important to our investigation, mesothelioma cases typically focus on the manufacturers, suppliers, and retailers of asbestos-containing products and materials, as well as contractors and premises owners. Rules differ by state, so please ask us how they apply to you.
Isn’t there one big trust fund for mesothelioma patients?+
No. There are about 60 separate asbestos trusts, each created by a different bankrupt entity, and each asbestos trust operates independently. Because mesothelioma can result from many exposures over the course of a patient’s career, many patients are able to successfully file claims with multiple asbestos trusts. Based on our investigation, we will identify which trusts you may be eligible to receive compensation from and we will file the claims for you.
Should I wait until after treatment to call a lawyer?+
We recommend not waiting. Starting early lets us begin the investigation and preserve evidence, and much of our work can be done while the patient is focusing on treatment and care. Every state also has a statute of limitations. Once it passes, you may lose the right to seek compensation.
Will I have to go to trial?+
Not every case goes to trial, and the decision about whether your case goes to trial is yours. Many cases resolve in advance of trial. We prepare every case as if it could go to trial. We also engage defendants in settlement negotiations and seek to obtain resolution with individual defendants that is advantageous to you. We handle the process with care and keep you informed.
Will this take a lot of my time while I am dealing with a diagnosis?+
We know how much you are already carrying. We do the heavy lifting: we investigate, gather the records, and prepare the claims, and we keep you informed at every step. We ask for your time only when we need your help, and we understand that your treatment and care and time with family and friends come first.
Is a claim only about the money?+
Compensation matters, especially with the cost of treatment and care and your family’s future. However, pursuing compensation is also a way to hold companies that caused workers and consumers to be exposed to asbestos and contract mesothelioma accountable for the terrible injury and harm.
Should I get a second opinion?+
We are lawyers, not doctors, and your medical treating team should guide your care. Still, mesothelioma is rare, and many patients seek a second opinion at a cancer center with extensive mesothelioma experience. Ask your doctor about it and see our resources for doctors at Midwest medical centers.
Request a free, confidential, no obligation case evaluation
A member of our team will contact you promptly.
About Jon Neumann, Founding Partner
A former partner at the largest law firm in the country exclusively litigating mesothelioma cases, Jon is an experienced attorney who has committed his career to helping patients and families impacted by mesothelioma. He is licensed to practice law in California, Illinois, Minnesota, Washington, and Wisconsin and exclusively represents mesothelioma patients and their families.
During law school Jon focused his studies on human rights and workers’ rights. That path led him to a career as a litigator working on behalf of union members and other working Americans facing terminal illness and death due to unsafe products and workplace conditions.
Jon has represented pipefitters, steamfitters, machinists, boilermakers, electricians, laborers, plasterers, tile setters, painters, drywallers, auto mechanics, longshoremen, ceramics workers, factory workers, and U.S. Navy machinist’s mates, boiler technicians, electrician’s mates, and enginemen who were wrongfully exposed to asbestos-containing products.
He has also prosecuted claims involving industrial talc and cosmetics, makeup, and talcum powder products contaminated with asbestos, as well as para-occupational take-home, environmental, and neighborhood asbestos exposures.
Over the course of his career, including at his prior firms, Paul & Hanley LLP and Maune Raichle Hartley French & Mudd, LLC, Jon has helped patients and families impacted by mesothelioma recover hundreds of millions of dollars from asbestos defendants. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Independent resources about mesothelioma, asbestos, filing deadlines, and medical treatment and care. These links are for general information only and are not legal or medical advice.
Reviewed by Jon Neumann, Founding Partner · Last reviewed
Physicians at Midwest medical centers
Hospital profiles for physicians who treat thoracic, abdominal, and mesothelioma cancers at leading Midwest medical centers.
University of Chicago Medicine
Chicago, Illinois
Hedy L. Kindler, MDMedical oncology; Director, Multidisciplinary Mesothelioma Program
The Mesothelioma Law Office is not affiliated with these physicians, hospitals, or agencies, and receives nothing of value for listing them. Listing is not an endorsement, a recommendation, or a guarantee of care, and does not mean that any listed physician will treat a particular patient. Please talk with your own doctors about treatment choices.
These statutes are listed for general reference. Other laws may also apply, including wrongful death statutes, and deadlines depend on the facts of each case. Please contact us to learn how much time applies to you.
