Mesothelioma and Asbestos Trial Verdicts
At Kazan Law, an award-winning California mesothelioma and asbestos law firm, we accept a relatively small number of cases and prepare every one of them for trial. Over the years, defendants and their lawyers have learned that trying cases against Kazan Law is rarely productive and almost always costs the defendants dearly. As a result, they are anxious to settle cases with us. Even when we start trial, we almost always resolve it by settlement before a verdict.
Other lawyers report settlement amounts on their web sites; we do not. Our mesothelioma settlement amounts are held confidential for two reasons. First, our clients never want their personal financial information spread all over the Internet, and if we listed those settlements, everyone would know how much money that client received. Second, defendants who settle with us don’t want other defense lawyers to know how much they have paid our clients. They certainly don’t want other plaintiffs’ lawyers to know, because if word got out, those lawyers would try to get the kind of settlements we get.
So, if we bragged about our settlements as others do, it would let people figure out which clients got how much, and it would hurt all our future clients because it would reduce the potential for getting them the kinds of settlements we have gotten others in the past. Since our primary responsibility is to do the very best we can for every client, the decision to forgo “bragging rights” is an easy one.
We won’t brag about our settlements, but verdicts after trials – whether before a jury or just with a judge – are public information. We aren’t afraid to bring cases to trial when we don’t receive a reasonable settlement offer from defendants, and we are successful in getting fair verdicts when we try a case like those tried by Kazan Law attorneys described below that have gone all the way through trial.
If you have a case, we would be pleased to evaluate it for you and give you our honest and well thought-out assessment of its potential on a private and confidential basis. You can be confident that unless we go to jury verdict, no one will ever know how much we recovered for you.
$117,000,000 Mesothelioma Verdict for Banker Who Used Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder for Decades
After a several month trial in New Jersey, our firm won a $117 million verdict for clients Stephen and Kendra Lanzo, formerly of Lafayette, CA. A jury found that Johnson’s Baby Powder contained asbestos, and that Johnson & Johnson Consumer, Inc. and its supplier Imerys Talc America, Inc. failed to adequately warn consumers of this fact, and further that Johnson & Johnson had a safer alternative design in cornstarch. The jury awarded the Lanzo’s $37 million dollars as compensation for Stephen Lanzo’s asbestos cancer, mesothelioma, with 70% to Johnson & Johnson Consumer, Inc. and 30% to Imerys Talc America, Inc. The jury also awarded $80 million in punitive damages.
$48,000,000 Mesothelioma Verdict for Construction Worker
A Los Angeles Superior Court jury found Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), a subsidiary of Dow Chemical Company, liable for exposing a construction worker to products made with asbestos. Mr. Bobbie Izell was an 87- year-old contractor who developed mesothelioma while building homes in Los Angeles County in the 1970s. This was the largest mesothelioma verdict in the nation in 2012— a record-breaking case that was won and upheld on appeal.
$32,800,000 Mesothelioma Verdict for Former Machinist
After a one-month trial, a Los Angeles, California jury returned a mesothelioma verdict which found American Optical Corporation substantially responsible for Louis William Tyler developing mesothelioma. The jury also found that American Optical Corporation acted with malice, fraud or oppression, determining the respiratory equipment manufacturer knew its product couldn’t prevent dangerous asbestos exposure and hid that fact from purchasers. (William and Becky Tyler v. American Optical Corporation, Case No. BC588866, Los Angeles County Superior Court)
$29,500,000 Mesothelioma Verdict for User of Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder
In a recent case based on a woman’s claim that Johnson’s Baby Powder – used as a base for makeup and dry shampoo – caused her mesothelioma, a jury in Northern California handed down a $29.5 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson, makers of the iconic baby powder. This is the second major verdict win against Johnson & Johnson obtained by lead trial attorney Joseph Satterley of Kazan, McClain, Satterley & Greenwood, PC, in Oakland, California, firm colleague Denyse Clancy, and Moshe Maimon of Levy Konigsberg, LLP, in New York. This legal team secured a similar New Jersey verdict for $117 million in 2018.
$27,342,500 Mesothelioma Trial Verdict for Former Wife of Insulator
An Oakland, California jury found that Owens-Illinois, a former manufacturer of KAYLO asbestos containing thermal pipe insulation, manufactured a defective product, was negligent, and failed to adequately warn consumers, and fraudulently concealed the health hazards of its KAYLO products. The jury also found that Owens-Illinois, Inc. acted with malice, oppression or fraud. (Rose-Marie and Martin Grigg v. Owens-Illinois, Alameda County Superior Court Case No. RG12629580).
$26,500,000 Mesothelioma Verdict for User of Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder
An Oakland, California jury found that defendants Johnson & Johnson and Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc., the entities responsible for Johnson’s Baby Powder, were negligent, manufactured a defective product, and failed to adequately warn consumers of their talc powder product’s asbestos content and related health hazards. The jury also found that the two defendants acted with with malice and oppression. (Christina Prudencio v. Johnson & Johnson, et al., Alameda County Superior Court Case No. RG20061303).
$22,170,000 Mesothelioma Trial Verdict for the Family of a Deceased Paint-Maker
Following a six week trial, a jury in Oakland, CA found that the talc sold by Vanderbilt and Imerys Talc America’s predecessors contained deadly asbestos. The jury found those companies were negligent and strictly liable for the wrongful death of Richard Booker. Additionally, the jury found that both Vanderbilt and Imerys had acted with malice, oppression and fraud, and the jury awarded punitive damages, meant to punish a company for its bad acts. (Booker v. Vanderbilt Minerals, Case No. RG15796166, Superior Court of California, County of Alameda.)
$20,500,000 Verdict for Pipe Manufacturing Plant Worker
An Alameda County jury found asbestos-cement pipe manufacturer J-M A/C Pipe Co. negligent and its actions malicious. (William Hardcastle and Vonda Hardcastle v. J-M A/C Pipe Corporation, Alameda County Superior Court No. 830058-2)
$20,000,000 Verdict for Woman Exposed to Asbestos in Her Own Family Home
An Alameda County Superior Court jury found Hill Brothers Chemical Company responsible for mesothelioma and conduct undertaken with malice, oppression or fraud. (Karen Peterson and Jeffrey Peterson v. Hill Brothers Chemical Company, Alameda County Superior Court No. 2001-031817)
$20,000,000 Verdict for California Entertainment Performer
A San Francisco, California jury found the Koch Industries subsidiary, Georgia-Pacific, liable for exposing a woman to remodeling products containing asbestos. Ms. Joan Mahoney was an entertainer for several years; her career took her around the world, performing on United Service Organizations tours. However, it was her work in the family remodeling business that brought her into contact with asbestos-containing joint compounds that caused her to develop mesothelioma.
$18,000,000 Mesothelioma Verdict Awarded to Two Philadelphia Auto Mechanics
A Philadelphia, Pennsylvania jury awarded $18 million in damages to the families of two pipefitters who worked with products manufactured by Crane Co. and Garlock Sealing Technologies. Both men were diagnosed with mesothelioma resulting from exposure to asbestos-containing valves and gaskets. The verdict was reached after the court permitted the jury to see documents where Garlock clearly admitted that their gaskets could cause the rare form of cancer; the gaskets were shown to contain 75 to 90% asbestos.
$17,400,000 Two-Phase Verdict for Heavy Duty Vehicle Parts Man
An Alameda County, California jury found that manufacturers Pneumo Abex, Arvin Meritor, and Carlisle Corporation defectively designed their brakes, failed to adequately warn consumers and customers of the dangers the brakes posed, were negligent, and intentionally concealed information that could have prevented harm, and acted with malice, fraud and oppression, warranting a second phase determination. (Gordon and Emily Bankhead v. Allied Packing & Supply, Inc., et al, Alameda County Superior Court No. RG10502243)
$12,000,000 Verdict in Colgate, J&J Trial for Lifelong User of Talc Powder Products
In June of 2019, Denyse Clancy and Joseph D. Satterley of Kazan McClain Satterley & Greenwood secured a $12 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson and Colgate-Palmolive for Patricia Schmitz, who alleged that the companies’ cosmetic talc products contained asbestos and caused her mesothelioma, a type of cancer that currently has no cure.
$12,000,000 Mesothelioma Verdict for Boiler Mechanic
On October 3, 2012, a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania court found former asbestos manufacturer, Garlock Sealing Technologies, liable for exposing a boiler mechanic to carcinogens at a Johnsonburg, PA paper mill. Mr. James Grumley was diagnosed with mesothelioma after working for several decades with boilers that were covered with asbestos cement, asbestos gaskets and asbestos rope— all manufactured by Garlock.
$11,600,000 Mesothelioma Verdict Upheld for Texas Laborer
In 2002, Timothy Shawn Bostic was diagnosed with mesothelioma. He was 40 years old, and died of the disease in 2003. As a child and teenager, Bostic worked as an employee for Knox Glass Company, and was exposed to asbestos while using Georgia–Pacific drywall joint compound. The case went to trial in 2006and the jury found Georgia–Pacific liable. After years of appellate litigation, the verdict was confirmed by the Texas Supreme Court in 2014.
$11,500,000 Verdict for Construction Project Estimator
An Alameda County jury found Eternit, Inc., manufacturer of enameled cement asbestos board, liable based on design defect, failure to warn and negligent supply. (Don Lee Henderson & Marlene Henderson v. Eternit, Inc., Alameda County Superior Court No. 843027-6)
Mesothelioma Trial: $11,000,000 Wrongful Death Verdict Reached for Automotive Parts Man with Mesothelioma
An Alameda County, California jury returned an $11 million verdict in an wrongful death suit against Pneumo Abex LLC on January 15, 2014. The jury was tasked with deciding the full amount of Mr. Bankhead’s widow’s and daughters’ losses due to his wrongful death 17 years before his life expectancy. (Emily Bankhead, Tammy Bankhead, and Debbie Bankhead Meiers v. ArvinMeritor, Inc., et al., Alameda County Superior Court Case No. RG12632899)
Mesothelioma Trial: $11,000,000 Verdict Reached for Commercial Painter
In January 2013, a Dallas, Texas jury returned a verdict in favor of a man who was exposed to asbestos as a painter. Mr. Vernon Walker, 67 at the time of the verdict, spent much of his life as a union painter — working with asbestos-containing paints and products in the construction of strip malls, skyscrapers, and private homes. The Walker family found product manufacturers Georgia Pacific, Bondex, and Kelly Moore 60% liable. The jury found that 40% of the blame rested on Union Carbide Corp.
$10,038,000 Verdict for Welder
An Alameda County jury found asbestos supplier Plant Insulation liable for mesothelioma. (Ulysses Collins and Cloristeen Collins v. Plant Insulation Company, Alameda County Superior Court No. RG0414330)
California Appeals Court Upholds Verdict in Widow’s Mesothelioma Suit
In 2013, the Court of Appeals of California, Second District, Division Two ruled on an appeal of a nonsuit for the family of Arnulfo Hernandez who received a favorable verdict in a wrongful-death action against Amcord Inc. in 2009. Mr. Hernandez was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma when he was 62 years old, and died one year later. He frequently used 94-pound bags of asbestos-containing gun plastic cement, often getting cement dust on his face and clothing. Amcord, Inc. manufactured the Riverside plastic cement.
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