Marion Mesothelioma Lawyer

Are you looking for a mesothelioma lawyer in Marion, IN?

At Ward & Ward Personal Injury Lawyers, we are trusted mesothelioma lawyers with over 70 years of experience.

If you or a family member has been diagnosed with mesothelioma in Marion, the exposure that caused it probably happened at a job site, a factory, or a military post decades ago. The company that made or sold the asbestos product may still be answerable for it, and so are the trusts set up by companies that went bankrupt. Our founding attorneys have represented injured Hoosiers since 1954 and take asbestos cases on a contingency basis. A Marion, IN Mesothelioma lawyer can reach coworkers and records while they are still available. Contact us to schedule a free consultation.

Mesothelioma Lawyer Marion, IN

A mesothelioma lawyer traces a cancer diagnosis back to the asbestos products and workplaces that caused it, then pursues compensation from the companies responsible. Mesothelioma develops in the lining of the lungs, chest wall, or abdomen, and it almost always follows asbestos exposure. The disease takes 20 to 50 years to appear, so the evidence sits in employment records, union files, product catalogs, and the memories of coworkers rather than in a police report.

Grant County has 66,524 residents, 21.1 percent of them age 65 or older and 4,367 of them veterans, according to Census QuickFacts. Those are the two groups in which mesothelioma is diagnosed most often. Nationally, CDC mortality data recorded 45,221 malignant mesothelioma deaths between 1999 and 2015, with the annual count still rising at the end of that period. A Marion mesothelioma attorney at Ward & Ward Personal Injury Lawyers builds the exposure history that turns a diagnosis into a claim.

Types of Mesothelioma Cases We Handle in Marion

Our mesothelioma attorneys in Marion, IN represent patients and families whose exposure happened in factories, on construction sites, in the military, or at home. We represent the person who was exposed, never the manufacturer or the insurer. The cases below describe the exposure paths we see most often in Grant County.

• Industrial and factory exposure. Marion’s auto parts, glass, electronics, and foundry workers handled insulation, gaskets, brake components, and furnace linings that contained asbestos for decades. We will reconstruct the plant, the department, and the products in use during the years you worked there.
• Construction and skilled trades exposure. Pipefitters, electricians, insulators, drywall finishers, and boiler mechanics cut and sanded asbestos products daily. Union records often establish which job sites a tradesperson worked and when.
• Military and veteran exposure. Navy ships, barracks, and vehicle maintenance shops exposed service members for decades. Indiana veterans can pursue VA benefits and a civil claim against product manufacturers at the same time.
• Secondary household exposure. Spouses and children who washed work clothes or hugged a parent coming home from the plant inhaled the same fibers. These claims rest on the worker’s exposure history even though the patient never set foot in the facility.
• Asbestosis and asbestos-related lung cancer. Not every asbestos disease is mesothelioma. Asbestosis and lung cancer tied to asbestos exposure support claims of their own, and we evaluate the medical file to identify which diagnosis applies.
• Claims against manufacturers and suppliers. The company that made the product usually owed the duty to warn, not the Marion employer. We identify every manufacturer, distributor, and contractor whose product reached your workplace.
• Asbestos trust fund claims. Dozens of asbestos manufacturers reorganized in bankruptcy and funded trusts to pay future victims. We file trust claims alongside the lawsuit so that no source of compensation is left behind.
• Wrongful death and survival claims. When a patient dies before the case concludes, the estate and the family can continue it. Families can bring claims after death, and the survival action preserves the damages the patient suffered before passing.

Why Choose Ward & Ward Personal Injury Lawyers as my Mesothelioma Lawyer in Marion, IN?

Seven Decades of Indiana Trial Practice

Donald W. Ward was admitted to the Indiana bar in 1954 after earning his law degree at Notre Dame, and he has served as president of the Indiana Trial Lawyers Association and as a governor of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. He is a Fellow of the Indiana College of Trial Lawyers. Asbestos litigation rewards that kind of history, because the defendants, the products, and the medical science have been argued in courtrooms for fifty years.

Recognition for Plaintiff-Side Litigation

Charles P. Ward clerked for Justice Richard M. Givan of the Indiana Supreme Court before joining the firm, and he has been admitted in Indiana’s state and federal courts since 1989. He holds an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell and has been selected to Super Lawyers every year since 2005. Our firm has recovered compensation for injured Hoosiers and their families for more than seven decades, and our client results reflect that record. Our personal injury lawyer in Marion, IN takes mesothelioma cases on contingency, so you pay no fee unless we recover for you.

Understanding Mesothelioma Cases

What Are Important Aspects of a Mesothelioma Case?

The strength of a Marion mesothelioma claim depends on how precisely the exposure can be documented, and that work begins at the first meeting.

• The exposure history. Every employer, job site, military posting, and product brand matters. We interview the patient and coworkers early and preserve that testimony while it is available.
• The medical record. A pathology report confirming mesothelioma, imaging, and treatment notes establish both the diagnosis and the damages. We coordinate with your oncologist so that litigation does not interfere with treatment.
• The defendants. A single plant may have used products from a dozen manufacturers. Identifying each one, including those now in bankruptcy, determines how much compensation is available.
• Scheduling. Courts can expedite cases for seriously ill plaintiffs, and we request that treatment when the diagnosis warrants it.

Damages, Liability, and Compensation for Mesothelioma Cases

Liability in an asbestos case rests on the duty of manufacturers and suppliers to warn about a hazard they knew or should have known about. Compensation covers the losses that follow.

• Medical expenses. Surgery, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and palliative care, past and future, are recoverable.
• Lost income and earning capacity. A diagnosis ends most careers immediately, and the claim accounts for the years of earnings that were lost.
• Pain and suffering. Mesothelioma causes physical pain and the loss of ordinary life, and Indiana law permits recovery for both.
• Wrongful death damages. When the disease is fatal, the family recovers funeral costs, lost financial support, and the loss of the relationship.
• Comparative fault. In a negligence claim, Indiana reduces a recovery by the injured person’s share of fault and bars it when that share exceeds 50 percent under the Comparative Fault Act. Defendants raise smoking history for this purpose, and we address it with medical evidence.
• Trust fund payments. Bankruptcy trusts pay according to published schedules, and those payments supplement, rather than replace, the lawsuit.

What Is The Mesothelioma Case Timeline?

Mesothelioma cases move faster than most injury claims because the courts and the parties know the prognosis.

1. The diagnosis is confirmed by pathology, and the consultation follows within days.
2. Our mesothelioma attorneys in Marion gather employment, union, military, and product records and interview witnesses.
3. The complaint is filed. Indiana’s two-year limitations period for personal injury runs from when the claim accrues, and in a latent disease case that is measured from the diagnosis rather than the exposure. Indiana courts have also addressed how the state’s product liability repose rules apply to long-latency asbestos claims.
4. Trust fund claims are filed in parallel with the lawsuit.
5. Depositions, including the patient’s, are taken early to preserve testimony. Most cases resolve through negotiated settlements with multiple defendants over the following months, and the remainder proceed to trial.

What Should You Bring to Your Mesothelioma Consultation?

Documents that place you at a workplace during specific years are worth more than almost anything else in this type of case.

• The pathology report and any imaging or treatment records you have received.
• A written list of every employer, job title, and job site, with approximate dates.
• Military discharge papers, if you served.
• Union membership cards, pension statements, or Social Security earnings records.
• The names of coworkers who can describe the products used at your workplace.

We review these materials at the first meeting and tell you which defendants and trusts are likely to be involved. The consultation is free, and we can meet by phone or video when travel is difficult.

Asbestos Exposure Sites and Local Resources for Marion Mesothelioma Cases

Marion’s economy ran for most of the twentieth century on automotive stamping, glass container manufacturing, television and electronics assembly, foundry work, and rail service, and each of those industries used asbestos in insulation, gaskets, brake and clutch parts, and heat-resistant materials of the kind the EPA asbestos guidance describes.

Older school buildings, the Marion General Hospital campus, and the Marion VA Medical Center on East 38th Street also date from the era when asbestos was standard in boilers, pipe wrap, and floor tile. Veterans treated at the Marion VA can pursue VA benefits in addition to a civil claim.

Workplace exposure limits and respirator rules now enforced under the OSHA asbestos standard did not exist for most of the years our Marion, IN mesothelioma clients were exposed. Cases are filed in the Grant County courts in Marion or in the county where a defendant does business, and our mesothelioma attorney in Marion chooses the venue that serves the client.

Reach Out to Ward & Ward Personal Injury Lawyers to Schedule a Consultation

A mesothelioma diagnosis in Marion, IN raises questions about treatment, income, and the companies that put asbestos in your workplace. Our Marion mesothelioma attorneys answer the legal ones at a free consultation, and you owe no fee unless we recover compensation. We return new inquiries promptly and can meet at the hospital or at home when a patient cannot travel. Contact us to schedule a consultation with a mesothelioma attorney in Marion, IN.