Weitz & Luxenberg Recognizes Senate Passage of “Ban Asbestos in America Act”

October 22, 2007, New York, NY -- Nationally recognized for winning multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements for workers and their families who have suffered from asbestos-related injuries, the law firm of Weitz & Luxenberg, P.C., applauds the U.S. Senate’s recent passage of the “Ban Asbestos in America Act.”

“We have seen first-hand how asbestos has wreaked havoc on Americans working in naval shipyards, automobile plants, and the construction industry. Most often this is through their employers’ conscious choice for profits over a worker's health,” said Joseph Patrick Williams, a trial attorney in the Asbestos Litigation department of Weitz & Luxenberg. “We applaud the U.S. Senate and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) for working to take asbestos products off American shelves for good.”

Senator Murray, with help from both sides of the Senate aisle, fought a six-year battle to outlaw the use of asbestos-containing materials in construction and automotive products. The Senate unanimously passed the bill on October 4th. A companion measure is working its way through the House of Representatives. Senator Murray's office reports “both optimism and support of House leaders.” If the House enacts Senator Murray’s bill into law, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would be directed to issue rules to ensure that asbestos products are withdrawn from the market within two years of the bill’s enactment.

Weitz & Luxenberg, P.C., has many notable successes in fighting for those who have been harmed by asbestos. In May, the firm obtained a jury verdict of $37 million for two smokers with lung cancer who had been exposed to asbestos (Index Nos. 100016/99 and 113583/05, New York Supreme Court). The defendant was Robert A. Keasbey Company, a former insulation contractor and distributor of asbestos products. In 2006, the firm secured a $25 million jury verdict in a trial against DaimlerChrysler AG for a New York City brake reliner who lost his right lung to mesothelioma. Weitz & Luxenberg’s successes date back to 1991 with a historic consolidated trial involving men who worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard during and after World War II. Weitz & Luxenberg represented 36 clients in that case, securing a verdict of $75 million.

Though some 3,000 Americans die every year from asbestos, the United States last year used 2,000 metric tons of asbestos product in roofing materials, thermal pipe coatings, and automotive brake and clutch products, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Every state in the country has reported instances of mesothelioma, the most dangerous form of asbestos-related cancer. Government records of state death certificates show that at least 9,924 persons died in California, Florida and New York between 1979 and 2001.

People who have been harmed by asbestos or wish to know more about the threat can get a free case review by filling out the form on this page. We will be in touch shortly.