Posts Tagged ‘statute of limitations’
Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010
For the millions of people in America now suffering with mesothelioma cancer, the question of whether or not they have a valid lawsuit and what it may be worth surfaces. Hearing a diagnosis of cancer is traumatic under any circumstances. Hearing that you may have planted the seeds for that cancer decades ago simply by doing your job is devastating news. That, however, is exactly what has happened too many of the mesothelioma cancer victims in the United States.
Estimates vary, but even conservative estimates put the number of mesothelioma cases that are caused by previous exposure to asbestos at 80%. Some experts put that percentage as high as 90%. Mesothelioma was once considered a vary rare form of cancer. .In people afflicted with mesothelioma, malignant cancer cells are found in the mesothelium, a protective sac that protects and covers many of the body’s internal organs. Scientists and doctors believe that when someone is exposed to asbestos dust particles, these particles are breathed in and subsequently enter the lungs. Years, even decades, later, those particles can cause the cells of the mesothelium to become abnormal and eventually lead to mesothelioma cancer.
If you have recently been diagnosed with mesothelioma cancer, you may be entitled to receive compensation for the injuries you have suffered as a result of the cancer. Under the California laws of negligence, if someone that had a duty of care to you breaches that duty and causes injuries, then you may be entitled to compensation. In the case of asbestos related mesothelioma, if you once worked in any of the numerous industries that used asbestos, then your employer or the manufacturer of the products that contained the asbestos could be responsible for your injuries. According to California mesothelioma lawyer Emery Ledger of Ledger & Associates, under a California personal injury lawsuit such as an asbestos related mesothelioma case, the victim may be entitled to economic and non-economic damages. “Damages” is a legal term that is used to refer to injuries. Economic damages generally include things that have a quantifiable numerical value such as medical bills or time lost from work due to the illness. Non-economic damages are what many people think of as pain and suffering. In addition, under some circumstances, punitive damages can be awarded when the judge believes that the defendant’s actions (or inactions) were particularly egregious and that the defendant acted with malice. California courts have led the way with some of the highest mesothelioma awards in the country and judges have not shied away from awarding punitive damages as part of those awards.
If you have recently been diagnosed with mesothelioma, seek the advice of an experienced California mesothelioma lawyer as soon as possible. While the statute of limitations for asbestos cases does not require that a lawsuit be filed shortly after exposure as many other personal injury cases require, it does require that you file a lawsuit within a short time after you have been diagnosed. For a free and confidential detailed evaluation of your mesothelioma case, contact the mesothelioma firm of Ledger & Associates at 1-800-300-0001 or visit them on the Internet at www.ledgerlaw.com.
Tags: asbestos, california law, compensation, damages, defendant, duty of care, economic damages, emery, emery ledger, injury, juries, law, lawsuit, lawyer, Ledger, ledgerlaw.com, lungs, malignant cancer cells, medical bill, medical bills, Mesothelioma, Mesothelioma lawyer, Negligence, numerical value, pain and suffering, Personal Injury, personal injury case, personal injury cases, personal injury law, personal injury lawsuit, ploy, punitive damages, states, statute of limitations, suffering
Posted in Personal Injury | No Comments »
Monday, June 14th, 2010
If you have recently lost a loved one to mesothelioma cancer, you are undoubtedly going through a range of difficult emotions. Losing a loved one under any circumstances is one of the most difficult things that can happen to us. When you lose a loved one to cancer that may have been caused by their exposure to toxic materials at their job, it can be even more difficult and frustrating. To make matters even worse, with mesothelioma, the exposure to asbestos may have been as long as 30 years ago or more. While mesothelioma may take years, even decades, to metastasize into cancer, it can turn deadly rather quickly. Understandably, the surviving family members are left feeling angry and frustrated as well as financially unstable sometimes due to the death of their loved one.
Clearly, people should not be subjected to cancer causing materials as a result of simply doing their jobs. The federal government finally initiated regulations governing the use and exposure to asbestos in the 1980’s – many decades after the first indications were discovered that asbestos was potentially deadly. For many, however, these regulations came too late. If your loved one died from mesothelioma, it could be that their exposure to the asbestos that caused the cancer dates back to the 1970’s or even before then. Unlike many other cancer causing agents, asbestos can be present in your system for decades before it finally turns your cells to cancer causing cells. For this reason, many family members of mesothelioma victims believe that it is too late to do anything about the cause of the mesothelioma. That may not be the case in the State of California.
While it is true that most lawsuits for wrongful must be commenced within a short time from the date of the accident or injury that caused the death, in the case of a death caused by exposure to asbestos the statute of limitations (time to initiate the lawsuit) is a little different. California Code Section 340.2 reads as follows:
(c) In an action for the wrongful death of any plaintiff’s
decedent, based upon exposure to asbestos, the time for commencement
of an action shall be the later of the following:
(1) Within one year from the date of the death of the plaintiff’s
decedent.
(2) Within one year from the date the plaintiff first knew, or
through the exercise of reasonable diligence should have known, that
the death was caused or contributed to by such exposure.
What this may mean for you as a surviving family member is that regardless of whether the exposure to asbestos was 30 years ago, if your family member recently passed away as a result of that exposure, you may still be entitled to file as a claimant in a California wrongful death lawsuit says California mesothelioma lawyer Emery Ledger of Ledger & Associates.
As a claimant in a wrongful death lawsuit, you may be entitled to compensation for the loss of financial as well as emotional support due to the death of your loved one. If someone else was responsible for the death of your loved one, you owe it to yourself and your family to hold them accountable. For a free detailed evaluation of your potential mesothelioma wrongful death case, contact California mesothelioma lawyer Emery Ledger of Ledger & Associates at 1-800-300-0001 or online at www.ledgerlaw.com.
Tags: asbestos, cancer causing agents, death lawsuit, decedent, family members, injury, law, lawsuit, lawsuits, lawyer, Ledger, ledgerlaw.com, Mesothelioma, mesothelioma cancer, Mesothelioma lawyer, mesothelioma victims, plaintiff, statute of limitations, surviving family, toxic materials, wrongful death, wrongful death case, wrongful death law, wrongful death laws, wrongful death lawsuit
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Friday, June 4th, 2010
Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that occurs when the cells of the mesothelium become abnormal and start to divide out of control. The mesothelium is essentially a protective sac that covers and protects many of your internal organs. While mesothelioma was once considered a very rare type of cancer, it has become more prevalent in the past few decades. Doctors and scientists attribute that fact that they are seeing more cases of mesothelioma to the fact that millions of workers were exposed to asbestos in decades past as part of their work in construction, textile, automotive and other trades. Although scientists were aware of a potential connection between exposure to asbestos and cancer as early as the beginning of the 20th century, regulations were not enacted until the 1980’s to protect workers from inhaling the potentially deadly particles.
One of the unique characteristics of mesothelioma, and what makes it most troublesome, is that there can be a lapse of 20 to 30 years from the time you are exposed to asbestos and the time symptoms appear and a diagnosis is made. So what can you do if you have recently been diagnosed with mesothelioma and you believe that the cause may be exposure to asbestos in your work environment many years ago?
Normally, tort claims (injury claims) must be commenced within two years from the date of the injury or incident under California law, according to mesothelioma lawyer Emery Ledger of Ledger & Associates. In the case of exposure to asbestos, however, the statute of limitations (time within which you must file a lawsuit) works a little differently in order to take into account the very long incubation period of the cancer. California Code of Civil Procedure Section 340.02 reads as follows:
(a) In any civil action for injury or illness based upon
exposure to asbestos, the time for the commencement of the action
shall be the later of the following:
(1) Within one year after the date the plaintiff first suffered
disability.
(2) Within one year after the date the plaintiff either knew, or
through the exercise of reasonable diligence should have known, that
such disability was caused or contributed to by such exposure.
.
What this means for anyone that has recently been diagnosed with mesothelioma is that they may still be able to file a lawsuit for the injuries they have suffered or are continuing to suffer as a result of exposure to asbestos. If you were exposed to asbestos in the workplace, you may be entitled to receive compensation from your employer or the manufacturer of the products that contained asbestos. As you may already know, the cost of treating mesothelioma can be quite expensive. If your illness was caused by exposure to asbestos, shouldn’t the culpable party be held accountable and at least help to pay for your treatment?
If you have additional questions about your legal options, please contact California mesothelioma lawyer Emery Ledger at Ledger & Associates. Schedule your free detailed evaluation by calling 1-800-300-0001 or visit him online at www.ledgerlaw.com.
Tags: asbestos, california code of civil procedure, california law, civil procedure section, claim, compensation, culpa, deadly particles, doctors, emery, emery ledger, injury, injury claim, juries, law, lawsuit, lawyer, Ledger, ledgerlaw.com, legal options, Mesothelioma, Mesothelioma lawyer, mesothelium, plaintiff, statute of limitations, text, tort claim, type of cancer
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Thursday, June 3rd, 2010
If you, or someone close to you, has been diagnosed with mesothelioma cancer, you probably already know that there is an excellent chance that the cancer developed from exposure to asbestos many years ago – probably in a work setting. What you may not know is that despite that fact that the exposure to the asbestos that caused the cancer may have been decades ago, you may still be entitled to receive compensation for the cancer that it is causing now. According the California personal injury lawyer Emery Ledger of Ledger & Associates says that under California negligence laws, it may not be too late to file a mesothelioma negligence lawsuit.
Negligence is a legal term used to describe fault. In order for someone – a person, entity or company – to be found negligent, you must meet four basic elements. First, the defendant (person, entity or company you are suing) must have owed a duty of care to the plaintiff (you). Second, the defendant must have breached that duty of care. Third, that breach must be the cause, or one of the causes of the injuries you have suffered. Last, you must prove damages. Damages refers to injuries, either physical or emotional, that you have suffered as a result of the defendants’ actions or inactions. The laws of negligence are extremely complicated and case specific, however a general idea of how they apply in mesothelioma cases can be summed up as follows: In mesothelioma cases, negligence is often found as a result of a duty of care that was owed to you as an employee or as someone that was handling the materials used in your work. The breach of care comes in because the materials you were using had high levels of asbestos in them causing you to inhale asbestos dust. That asbestos dust eventually found its way to your lungs and over a period of years or decades caused the mesothelioma cancer that you are now suffering from.
California uses a form of negligence known as comparative negligence. What this means is that more than one defendant can be responsible for the damages you have suffered. Additionally, you can even share some of the blame for your injuries – as long as the other defendants were MORE responsible then you may still be entitled to compensation. In the case of mesothelioma cancer, it is often the case that a previous employer as well as numerous manufacturers of asbestos laden materials all share a part of the negligence for your injuries.
While many personal injury cases must be filed within a relatively short time period after the incident that gave rise to the injuries, the California legislature has enacted a special rule for asbestos cases. Under California law, the time frame for the statute of limitations does not begin until you suffer from a disability associated with the cancer or should have known that you were suffering from a disability associated with the cancer. What this may mean for you is that even if your exposure to asbestos was many years ago, if you are just now suffering the effects of the exposure then you may still be entitled to file a lawsuit and receive compensation for your injuries.
For additional information about asbestos related mesothelioma, feel free to contact California personal injury lawyer Emery Ledger of Ledger & Associates through his website at www.ledgerlaw.com or at his toll-free number 1-800-300-0001
Tags: asbestos, california law, comparative negligence, compensation, damages, defendant, duty of care, emery, emery ledger, fault, injury, juries, law, lawsuit, lawyer, Ledger, ledgerlaw.com, lungs injury, Mesothelioma, Negligence, Personal Injury, personal injury attorney, personal injury case, personal injury cases, personal injury law, personal injury lawyer, plaintiff, statute of limitations
Posted in Wrongful Death Lawyer | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010
Mesothelioma is a very rare, but very aggressive form of cancer. Scientists are still studying the exact mechanism that takes place inside our bodies to cause the cancer, but almost everyone agrees that the largest risk factor for being diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma is past exposure to asbestos. Although doctors and scientists have known of the potential link between asbestos and mesothelioma since the early 1900’s, thousands of products continued to be manufactured with asbestos until fairly recently. Asbestos was routinely used in the manufacture of cars, textiles and in many of the construction trades until the United States government finally stepped in the 1980’s and began to regulate the use of and exposure to asbestos.
What makes pinpointing the cause of mesothelioma even harder is that it can takes years, even decades to produce symptoms in your body. You would have been exposed to asbestos 30 years ago and just now receive a diagnosis of mesothelioma. The damage from asbestos is caused when someone breaths in the asbestos particles that are found in a plant or construction site where asbestos products are used. When someone breathes in the asbestos fibers, the fibers eventually reach the end of the small airways where they penetrate into the pleura (the lining of the lungs). The asbestos fibers may then injure the medothelial cells that surround the lungs and eventually cause cancerous cells to grow and become mesothelioma.
For years, workers in the construction, textile or automotive trades worked in asbestos filled environments without ever knowing the dangers. The symptoms of mesothelioma are extremely slow to show up in the human body and someone can live with mesothelioma precursor cells in their body for decades without knowing they have contracted the cancer. If you are concerned that you may have been exposed to asbestos over your lifetime, or you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, you should contact an experienced California mesothelioma lawyer as soon as possible. While most personal injury cases have a relatively short statute of limitations (time within which you must file a lawsuit), asbestos cases are treated differently for statute of limitations purposes due to the extremely long incubation period of the disease. Only an experienced mesothelioma lawyer can tell you whether you may be able to file a lawsuit for the damages you have suffered as a result of exposure to asbestos. If you were exposed to asbestos at your job, and that exposure ultimately caused you to be diagnosed with mesothelioma, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries. Compensation may include payment of your medical bills as well as additional compensation for the suffering you have endured as a result of the exposure.
If you are suffering from mesothelioma, chances are good that your present or past employment caused the cancer. Workers should not have to worry that doing their job can cause them to suffer from cancer 20 or 30 years down the road. If you would like to know more about your legal options as a mesothelioma sufferer, please contact California mesothelioma lawyer Emery Ledger of Ledger & Associates at 1-800-300-0001 or visit him online at www.ledgerlaw.com.
Tags: asbestos, asbestos fibers, auto, cancerous cell, cancerous cells, cars, compensation, damages, doctors, emery, emery ledger, fibers, human body, injury, juries, law, lawsuit, lawyer, Ledger, ledgerlaw.com, legal options, lungs, medical bill, medical bills, Mesothelioma, Mesothelioma lawyer, options, Personal Injury, personal injury case, personal injury cases, statute of limitations
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Saturday, May 15th, 2010
Despite the efforts of state legislators to increase penalties for drinking and driving as well as the numerous public awareness campaigns over the last couple of decades to educate the public about the dangers of drinking and driving, people continue to do so. Not surprisingly, drunk driving accidents continue to top the list of accident causes. Deaths related to drunk driving accidents also persist at an alarming rate. Recent statistics indicate that someone is killed as the result of a drunk driver every 45 minutes in the United States. That adds up to almost 12,000 deaths a year.
For the families of the victims of a drunk driver, the legal system can be frustrating, slow and sometimes may appear unjust. While most states have enacted tougher laws for repeat drunk drivers and even first time drunk drivers, for a variety of reasons many of them will still not spend any meaningful time in prison. Even drunk drivers that are charged with an accident that resulted in a death do not always go to prison. Some of them are not convicted at all and others that are convicted may end up with probation instead of prison time. This may seem like salt poured on an already huge wound for the families of the victims. So what can you do if you have lost a family member as a result of a drunk driver?
One option, according to California wrongful death lawyer Emery Ledger of Ledger & Associates, it to file a wrongful death lawsuit. Unlike the criminal charges that driver may be facing, a wrongful death claim is civil in nature. It can be filed contemporaneously with the criminal charges or after the criminal case has been resolved. Be aware, however, that it must be filed within the appropriate statute of limitations timeframe which can be anywhere from 180 days to two years.
The two important differences in a wrongful death lawsuit and the criminal charges that the driver may be facing are the burden of proof and the possible results if the driver loses. In a criminal case, if the driver loses, he faces jail time or probation. In a wrongful death lawsuit, if he loses he faces a monetary judgment against him that he must pay to the survivors. Also, in a criminal case, the driver can only be convicted if he is found guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt”. This is the highest burden of proof used under our system of justice and requires that there be virtually no doubt of the defendant’s guilt in order for him to be convicted. It is intended to prevent the innocent from being wrongfully convicted but sometimes also allows the guilty to go free. In a wrongful death lawsuit the burden of proof is “beyond a preponderance of the evidence”. This burden is easier to meet and therefore makes your chances of winning higher. It is possible for a defendant to be found “not guilty” at a criminal trial but then be found culpable in a wrongful death lawsuit. It is for this reason that many families of drunk driving deaths choose to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit.
If you have lost a loved one to a drunk driver and would like additional information on how to file a wrongful death lawsuit, please contact California wrongful death attorney Emery Ledger of Ledger & Associates at 1-800-300-0001 or contact him online at Wrongful Death Laws.
Tags: accident attorney, accident death, accident lawyer, attorney, attorney emery ledger, death lawyer, drunk driving accidents, killed, lawsuit lawywer, lawsuits, lawyer, Ledger, ledgerlaw.com, preponderance of the evidence, statute of limitations, survivors, united states, wrongful death, wrongful death attorney, wrongful death claim, wrongful death laws, wrongful death lawsuit, wrongful death lawsuits
Posted in Wrongful Death Lawyer | No Comments »
Friday, May 14th, 2010
A wrongful death claim is a cause of action that asserts that the death of a person was caused by the wrongful or negligent act of another person. Common examples of wrongful death claims are medical malpractice cases where the patient dies, fatal drunk driving accidents and asbestos related deaths. These are only a few of the possible wrongful death claims. As you can see, a wrongful death can come from almost any set of circumstances but all have in common the negligence of another person.
The amount of time that you have to file a wrongful death action can vary from state to state. The type of wrongful death that you are alleging may also affect the time frame within which you must file the claim. Each state determines their own statute of limitations for different types of actions. A statute of limitations is just a legal term for the time frame that you have to file your action. If you do not file within the allotted time frame, you are usually forever barred from filing and subsequently receiving compensation.
In the State of California, California Code of Civil Procedure Section 335.1 governs the periods of time within which you must file a wrongful death action in most circumstances. Section 335.1 states that claimants must file a wrongful death action within two years of the death that gave rise to the claim. There are, however, exceptions to the general two year statute of limitations. For instance, if you believe that a government entity or municipality was responsible for the death, then you must put them on notice within 180 days of the death. As you can see, this shortens the time frame considerably. Another example of an exception is for a death caused by the exposure to asbestos. In that case, Section 340.2 applies and requires that the claim be filed within one year of the death of the decedent OR within one year from the date the plaintiff first knew, or through the exercise of reasonable diligence should have known, that the death was caused or contributed to by such exposure – whichever date is later. Lastly, when the claimant in a wrongful death action is a minor, the statute of limitations is tolled – meaning put on hold – until the minor reaches the age of majority. If the death was intentional, as in the case of murder, the statute of limitations may also be extended depending on whether the person was convicted of the crime and whether they are incarcerated.
As you can see, knowing how long you have to file a wrongful death claim is extremely important. In some cases you may only have six months to protect your claim. The law is ever-changing and it is best to check with an experienced wrongful death attorney as soon as you feel that you might have a wrongful death case. If you would like a free detailed evaluation of a potential California wrongful death case, please feel free to contact California wrongful death lawyer Emery Ledger of Ledger & Associates at 1-800-300-0001 or online at www.ledgerlaw.com
Tags: accident, accidents, amount of time to sue, asbestos attorney, california code of civil procedure, cause of action statute of limitation, claimant time frame, compensation, deaths, decedent, dents, drunk driving accident, drunk driving accidents, law, Ledger, ledgerlaw.com, medical malpractice, Negligence, negligent act, plaintiff, state of california, states, statute of limitations, sue government entity, time to claim, wrongful death, wrongful death attorney, wrongful death case, wrongful death claim, wrongful death claims
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