Compensation for Mesothelioma and Asbestos Exposure
When someone is diagnosed with mesothelioma, lung cancer, or asbestosis, everything changes. The shock. The questions. The urgency. And almost always, the sense that this never should have happened in the first place.
Since 2014, our firm has stood with thousands of families across the country, helping them make sense of what comes next. We understand how deeply asbestos-related diseases affect not just the body, but every part of your life, including your finances, your future, and especially your family.
"I founded this firm after discovering that the cancers that took my father and grandparents were caused by asbestos, but I didn't learn that until years after they passed. By then, the statute of limitations had run. I never got justice for my own family. That realization turned my career into a mission." — Justinian Lane. Read more about my story here.
We never charge upfront fees, and our consultations are always free. We only get paid if we recover money for you. Over the past decade, we've recovered more than $400 million for workers, veterans, spouses, and children harmed by an industry that knew asbestos was deadly and hid the truth for decades.
Three Paths to Compensation
Most people diagnosed with an asbestos-related illness qualify for more than one form of compensation. Depending on how and when you were exposed, you may have claims against manufacturers, property owners, bankruptcy trusts, and government benefit programs, potentially all at the same time.
Our job is to find every available source of compensation and help you pursue whichever options make sense for your family. That typically means some combination of three paths:
Asbestos Lawsuits hold companies accountable in court for the harm caused by their products or their failure to protect workers.
Asbestos Trust Claims recover money from bankruptcy trusts established by manufacturers who can no longer be sued directly.
Disability Benefits provide monthly support through the VA or Social Security for those who can no longer work.
These paths aren't mutually exclusive. Most families pursue several at once.
Asbestos Lawsuits
Lawsuits hold companies directly accountable for the harm caused by asbestos exposure. They can result in substantial compensation that other paths don't provide, including damages for medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, and wrongful death.
The legal framework for these cases exists because of Clarence Borel, a Texas pipefitter who became the first person to successfully sue the asbestos industry. His 1973 victory established that manufacturers could be held liable for failing to warn workers about the dangers of their products. Every asbestos lawsuit filed since follows the path he opened.
Product liability lawsuits target manufacturers who made asbestos products and failed to warn users.
Premises liability lawsuits target property owners who knew about asbestos hazards and failed to protect workers.
Wrongful death lawsuits allow surviving families to seek compensation when a loved one dies from an asbestos-related disease.
Railroad workers and maritime workers have additional options. The Federal Employers' Liability Act allows railroad employees to sue their employers directly. The Jones Act provides similar protections for seamen and shipyard workers.
For workers who can't sue their employers, workers' compensation provides no-fault benefits, although recovery is more limited than what lawsuits can achieve.
Learn more about asbestos lawsuits.
Asbestos Trust Claims
Many of the companies responsible for asbestos exposure were ordered by Federal courts to establish trust funds to compensate current and future victims of mesothelioma, lung cancer, and other diseases. More than 60 trusts were funded with over $30 billion in assets specifically set aside for people with asbestos-related diseases. If you were exposed to their products, you may be entitled to file claims against multiple trusts.
Trust claims don't require going to court. There's no trial, no testimony, and no years-long litigation. You submit documentation of your diagnosis and exposure history, and if the claim meets the trust's criteria, you receive a payout—often within months. For mesothelioma claims, these payments can be substantial, sometimes exceeding $1 million dollars.
Trust claims can be filed alongside lawsuits. The manufacturers you can still sue are different from the ones that established trusts, so pursuing both paths maximizes your total recovery.
Learn more about asbestos trust claims.
Disability Benefits
If your illness prevents you from working, you may qualify for monthly disability benefits through the federal government. These programs provide income support while you focus on treatment and care. And unlike lawsuits, they don't require proving anyone was at fault.
VA Disability is available to veterans whose asbestos exposure occurred during military service. Navy veterans and shipyard workers are especially affected, though any veteran with a service-connected asbestos disease may qualify. Benefits include monthly tax-free payments, healthcare through the VA system, and survivor benefits for spouses and dependents.
Social Security Disability is available to workers who paid into the system and can no longer work due to their illness. Mesothelioma qualifies for fast-tracked approval under the SSA's Compassionate Allowances program, meaning claims can be processed in weeks rather than months.
Neither program blocks you from pursuing lawsuits or trust claims. You can receive VA or Social Security benefits and still file for every other form of compensation available to you.
Learn more about disability benefits.
Claims Work Together
Most families pursue several paths for compensation, not just one. A worker diagnosed with mesothelioma might file a premises liability lawsuit against the property owner where he was exposed, trust claims against the bankrupt manufacturers of the products he worked with, and a Social Security disability claim for monthly income support. A veteran might combine VA disability benefits with trust claims and product liability lawsuits against the companies that supplied asbestos to the military.
These claims target different parties and draw from different sources, and they don't compete with each other. They stack to provide relief to families affected by asbestos and the diseases it can cause. Coordinating multiple claims properly is how families maximize their total recovery and ensure that every responsible party is held accountable. We've recovered more than $400 million for asbestos victims and their families by building comprehensive strategies that pursue every available claim simultaneously.
Learn more about how we build cases other firms can't.
On our Clarence Borel page, we walk through exactly what would happen if someone with his exposure history contacted us today. It shows how workers' compensation, premises liability, product liability, and trust claims all fit together in a single coordinated strategy to compensate families affected by diseases like mesothelioma.
See how all the claims fit together.
Take the First Step
Every path to compensation has deadlines. Statutes of limitations govern lawsuits. Trust claims have their own filing windows. Disability benefits require timely applications. Waiting too long can close doors that should have stayed open, and once they're closed, there's often no way to reopen them.
We help families navigate all of it. We identify every claim you're eligible for, gather the documentation needed to build strong cases, and coordinate the timing so nothing falls through the cracks. You focus on your health and your family. We handle the rest.
If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis, or another asbestos-related disease, the time to act is now. When you contact us for a free consultation, we'll review your exposure history, explain every option available to you, and answer your questions with no pressure, and no obligation.
The consultation is free. You pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you.
Call 833-4-ASBESTOS (833-427-2378) or schedule your free consultation online.
You've carried enough. Let us take it from here.