Asbestos Litigation
Gordon Stemple is committed to fighting for justice for those whose lives have been affected by toxic substances, particularly asbestos. With a deep well of experience that spans over four decades, our approach uniquely combines consortium-style collaborations with leading law firms. While we have focused on large-scale litigation projects, this same approach has been successfully applied to smaller numbers, even to only one litigant, where the harm is severe. One client can be facing a multitude of defendants and be suffering life-altering injuries. Our aim is to offer individuals a collective voice, thereby leveling the playing field against powerful defendants.
Our Scope of Representation
While some law firms exclusively represent Mesothelioma clients, our practice is broader. We consider potential claims from those suffering from Lung cancer and advanced Asbestosis resulting from industrial asbestos exposure. Establishing asbestos exposure causation for these diseases can be challenging, but if the connection is not explored, it will not be found.
Major Asbestos Litigation Projects
In 1977, Gordon initiated a groundbreaking approach by forming consortiums with top-tier law firms to jointly represent clients injured by asbestos exposure. This collaborative strategy enabled us to effectively combat defendants with enormous wealth and political influence, benefitting from economies of scale that are still relevant today.
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1977 – 1994: Long Beach & Mare Island Naval Shipyard Litigation Projects
Our firm filed individual asbestos cases for over 4,000 current and retired workers at the Long Beach, Mare Island, and Hunters Point Naval Shipyards in California. Collaborating with several esteemed firms, we constituted 25% of all asbestos lawsuits in the United States as of August 2, 1982—the day Johns Manville, the largest asbestos product manufacturer, filed for Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Protection. This pivotal case and Gordon’s involvement in it, along with other nationally known asbestos attorneys, set the groundwork for today's asbestos trust funds, allowing victims to sue both non-bankrupt entities while still presenting claims to these trusts.
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1985 – 1992: National Tire Workers Litigation Project
Gordon discovered an epidemic of asbestos-related illnesses among American tire manufacturing workers in 1985, when testing workers for chemical exposures from the then closed Firestone factory that had been disposing of its waste at the Crazy Horse landfill. Despite strong resistance and disparagement from both the tire and asbestos industries (see Wall Street Journal), our firm represented approximately 13,000+ tire workers, coast to coast, exposed to asbestos. The industrial talc hazards, used in abundance in tire factories, once vehemently disputed, are now widely accepted as dangerous.
Asbestos Litigation: Related News Coverage
Do You Have a Card Like This?
If you or a loved one have or had a Shipyard or Tire Worker card, it's more than a piece of laminated paper; it's a key to understanding your legal rights, especially amid changing statutes of limitations. Don't let an asbestos-related diagnosis catch you unprepared—your card could be a critical reminder, a piece of the puzzle for securing justice and compensation. You may still have viable rights to pursue.