Who is At Risk for Asbestos Poisoning?

Virginia Asbestos Attorney Greg Webb

Video Transcript:

Greg Webb:

We've been able to help him, he's been unable to work and we've been able to help him and his family over the past eight years, and we'll be able to help take care of his children for the rest of their lives.

Judy Maggio:

Are people still getting cancer and other illnesses because of asbestos and how do they get help? We're going to answer that question and much more on this episode of Ask the Lawyer. Hi again everybody, I'm Judy Maggio with AskTheLawyers.com, and my guest today is Virginia attorney Greg Webb. A quick reminder though, if you wanna ask Greg a question, simply go to AskTheLawyers.com and click on the Ask a Lawyer button, or you can call the number right there on your screen. Thanks so much for being with us today.

Greg Webb:

Glad to be here, Judy. Thank you.

Judy Maggio:

First question. What is asbestos and is it still in use today?

Greg Webb:

Asbestos is very much in use. It's a naturally occurring mineral mined all over the world, but... mined heavily in the United States and Canada. It is used in over 3000 products in the United States. It is virtually indestructible. It's cheap. And so, yes, it is very much still in use.

Judy Maggio:

I thought that asbestos had been outlawed for many years... Is it still a problem today?

Greg Webb:

Well, it has not been outlawed, actually, it's been heavily regulated since the mid-1970s through OSHA and some other regulations, federal regulations, but there is no total ban on asbestos, it is still used in products today in friction products like brakes and gaskets, it's used in roofing tiles, it's also used in flame retardant clothing, so it's still in use, and many people don't realize that.

Judy Maggio:

It's my understanding that exposure to asbestos can cause an illness decades after that exposure occurs. So how do you uncover when the exposure took place?

Greg Webb:

That requires some painstaking reconstruction of a person's work history, of our client's work history, and if they've never worked in an industrial environment or in building trades, for example, we look at their personal history and whether they lived with someone usually as a child who worked in an industrial setting, kind of a blue collar setting with and around asbestos products. So we have to go back and really dig deeply, and it requires a lot of investigative work into that person's history.

Judy Maggio:

Are you able to hold corporations responsible decades later for someone's illness then?

Greg Webb:

Absolutely, we do it all the time. It requires that work, and once we establish that, that link, if you will, exposure link we would call it, with that person's background, then we can usually establish what products they were exposed to. Typically, an exposure link would occur in an industrial setting, for example, a shipyard or a paper mill, and we know from history and from representing many other people that there are asbestos products in that particular industrial site, and we have a catalog of all of those products and we can identify the manufacturers. Many of those manufacturers may be bankrupt, but we can still make claims because they establish trusts from which we can make claims and recover for folks, and the solvent companies we can bring lawsuits against.

Judy Maggio:

Tell us about some of your personal experiences helping people who do have illnesses because of exposure to asbestos.

Greg Webb:

Well, one of my really most gratifying cases, but it's also one of the most tragic, involved a 29-year-old young man who was diagnosed with mesothelioma when he was 29, he just turned 29 and is the youngest client I've ever had, and he was exposed through his father who worked at a DuPont plant and as an insulator and my client at the time he was diagnosed was a one-year-old child and three older children, he had four children in the house, a wife, and he was a firefighter, and this disease, he is still battling now, about eight years later, he's still alive, he's still in clinical trials, and he's hanging in there because he was young and strong, but we've been able to help him, he's been unable to work and we've been able to help him and his family over the past eight years and we'll be able to help take care of his children for the rest of their lives.

Judy Maggio:

Talk more about the people you are able to help, like this young man, but I think a lot of people think they can't afford to speak to an attorney.

Greg Webb:

Yeah, that's a common misconception, and I get that question a lot from folks, I'm talking to you on the phone, and really most attorneys like myself, we'll talk to someone free, there's a free consultation, and if we take the case, we take it on a contingency fee, which is essentially another way of saying a commission, and so we don't send bills out, we're not gonna send a client a bill asking them to send us a whole bunch of money, we only get paid if we recover for them, so there's really no risk to them except for their time.

Judy Maggio:

Such great information today. So thank you so much for answering our questions.

Greg Webb:

So glad to help. Thank you, Judy.

Judy Maggio:

And that will do it for this episode of Ask the lawyer. My guest has been a Virginia lawyer, Greg Webb. Don't forget, if you would like to ask Greg a question, go to AskTheLawyers.com, click on the Ask a Lawyer button and ask away. It's free of charge. Thanks so much for watching. I'm Judy Maggio with Ask the Lawyers.

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