Asbestos

At Hach & Rose, LLP, our New York asbestos lawyers represent workers and families facing mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis, and other serious illnesses after asbestos exposure. We investigate where and how the exposure occurred, identify the companies and products that may be responsible, and pursue financial recovery for the harm caused by an asbestos-related disease.

For decades, workers in construction and other skilled trades encountered asbestos in insulation, boilers, pipes, fireproofing materials, machinery, and other products. Many had no idea that fibers released into the air could remain in their lungs and contribute to serious disease decades later.

Our roots run deep in New York’s labor community. We understand the work union members perform, the conditions they face, and the importance of reconstructing an occupational history when exposure occurred 20, 30, 40, or more years ago.

If you have been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease, call Hach & Rose, LLP at (646) 603-1400 to discuss your potential claim.

Why Choose Hach & Rose, LLP for an Asbestos Claim?

Hach & Rose, LLP was built on relationships with New York’s working people. For nearly 25 years, our attorneys have represented injured union members and their families when serious injuries and illnesses threaten everything they worked to build. We bring that experience to asbestos litigation.

We also understand that identifying the responsible companies is only the beginning. Our lawyers pursue claims through negotiation and litigation, challenge defendants’ attempts to avoid responsibility, and prepare cases for trial when defendants will not agree to a fair resolution.

Hach & Rose, LLP has recovered more than $1 billion for our clients. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome in another case, but they reflect the level of advocacy we bring to people facing life-changing harm.

How Our New York Asbestos Lawyers Can Help

An asbestos claim often begins long after the exposure itself. You may remember the job sites where you worked, but not the manufacturer of the insulation surrounding a pipe or the name printed on a product another trade was using nearby. We can investigate those details.

We review employment and union histories, medical records, jobsite information, witness accounts, product evidence, and other records to determine how exposure may have occurred. We can identify potentially responsible companies, evaluate available legal claims, file lawsuits and other eligible claims, negotiate for a fair resolution, and take a case to trial when necessary.

The goal is not simply to establish that you encountered asbestos. We work to connect your exposure history to the companies that may be legally responsible for your illness and pursue the financial recovery available to you.

What Diseases Can Asbestos Exposure Cause?

Asbestos exposure can cause cancer and non-cancerous lung disease. The three conditions usually involved in asbestos litigation are mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis.

Although these diseases share asbestos as a potential cause, they are not the same condition.

Mesothelioma

Malignant mesothelioma is a rare cancer that develops in the thin tissue lining certain internal organs. Asbestos exposure is the principal risk factor for mesothelioma.

Pleural mesothelioma affects the lining surrounding the lungs and is the most common form. Symptoms can include chest pain, shortness of breath, persistent coughing, and fluid buildup around the lungs.

Peritoneal mesothelioma develops in the lining of the abdomen. It can cause abdominal pain or swelling, unexplained weight loss, nausea, and other digestive symptoms.

Mesothelioma can take decades to develop after asbestos exposure. That long latency means someone diagnosed today may need to reconstruct occupational exposures that occurred early in their career.

Asbestos-Related Lung Cancer

Asbestos exposure can also cause lung cancer. Unlike pleural mesothelioma, which develops in the lining surrounding the lungs, lung cancer develops within lung tissue.

This distinction matters because someone does not need to develop mesothelioma to have a potentially actionable asbestos-related cancer. Lung cancer can also occur in asbestos-exposed workers who never developed asbestosis.

Smoking is another major cause of lung cancer, but a history of smoking does not necessarily rule out asbestos as a contributing cause. Smoking and asbestos exposure together substantially increase lung cancer risk. If you worked around asbestos and later developed lung cancer, your occupational history deserves careful review, even if you also smoked.

Asbestosis and Other Non-Cancerous Asbestos Diseases

Asbestosis is a chronic lung disease caused by inhaling asbestos fibers. The fibers can cause inflammation and scarring, or fibrosis, in lung tissue. As the scarring progresses, breathing can become increasingly difficult. Symptoms can include shortness of breath, persistent dry cough, chest discomfort, fatigue, and reduced exercise tolerance. 

Asbestos exposure can also cause pleural plaques, pleural thickening, and other abnormalities. Although these conditions are not cancer, they can provide evidence of past asbestos exposure and, depending on the condition, can affect respiratory health.

What Should I Know After a Mesothelioma Diagnosis?

A mesothelioma diagnosis can be challenging, particularly when the exposure that caused the disease may have happened decades earlier. 

Doctors can use imaging studies and other testing when mesothelioma is suspected, but a biopsy is generally necessary to confirm the diagnosis. Treatment and prognosis depend on factors including where the cancer developed, its stage, cell type, whether it can be surgically removed, and the patient’s overall health.

From a legal perspective, a recent diagnosis can also trigger important questions about where the asbestos exposure occurred. Our attorneys may reconstruct decades of employment to identify job sites, employers, trades, asbestos-containing materials, equipment, and manufacturers associated with the worker’s history. 

Former coworkers, union records, Social Security employment records, and other evidence can help establish exposures that the person understandably cannot remember in detail. The fact that asbestos exposure occurred decades ago does not automatically prevent a claim.

Where Are New York Workers Exposed to Asbestos?

Occupational exposure is especially common when workers cut, remove, repair, disturb, or work near asbestos-containing materials. Construction workers could encounter asbestos in insulation, floor and ceiling materials, fireproofing, cement products, roofing materials, pipes, and mechanical systems. Renovation and demolition could release fibers from materials installed many years earlier.

Boiler workers, pipefitters, plumbers, and insulators often work around equipment and pipes that require heat-resistant insulation. Electricians and other trades can be exposed when working alongside crews disturbing asbestos-containing materials.

Shipbuilding and ship repair historically involved extensive asbestos use because of its heat- and fire-resistant properties. Workers could encounter asbestos around boilers, steam pipes, engine rooms, and other confined spaces.

Other potentially exposed workers include:

• Operating engineers
• Laborers
• Ironworkers
• Carpenters
• Sheet metal workers
• Power plant and utility workers
• Maintenance and repair workers
• Firefighters and other first responders

Exposure was not necessarily limited to workers who personally handled asbestos. Fibers released by another trade could become airborne, exposing people working nearby.

We Represent Union Workers in Asbestos Litigation

For Hach & Rose, LLP, representing tradespeople is not a new marketing angle. It is part of who we are.

Our attorneys have spent decades representing union members and their families. Founding partner Gregory Hach is a longtime member of the International Union of Operating Engineers and comes from a union family. He has represented members of organized labor in asbestos litigation and other complex claims.

That background matters when an asbestos case requires understanding what someone actually did on a construction site or industrial job decades ago. A worker might remember that pipefitters removed old insulation nearby, that a boiler room became dusty during maintenance, or that fireproofing was sprayed while other trades continued working. Those details can be critical when reconstructing an exposure history.

We know a job title does not tell the whole story. Our lawyers want to know what work you performed, what other trades were doing around you, what products were present, and what conditions existed at the jobsite.

Who Can Be Held Responsible for an Asbestos-Related Disease?

The company that employed an asbestos-exposed worker is not necessarily the only—or even the primary—focus of an asbestos lawsuit.

Depending on the circumstances, potentially responsible parties may include manufacturers and suppliers of asbestos-containing products, as well as other companies legally responsible for the materials or equipment that caused exposure.

A single worker may have encountered asbestos-containing products made by multiple companies at multiple job sites over a long career. Identifying those exposures is one reason asbestos litigation requires a detailed investigation.

Some companies historically responsible for asbestos products have entered bankruptcy and established asbestos bankruptcy trusts to compensate eligible claimants. Depending on the exposure history, a person may have potential claims involving trust funds as well as litigation against solvent defendants. The appropriate path depends on the individual worker’s disease and exposure history.

How Do Our Lawyers Investigate Asbestos Exposure That Happened Decades Ago?

You do not need to arrive at our office knowing every asbestos product you encountered during your career. Our lawyers can begin with what you do know: employers, unions, jobsites, occupations, coworkers, approximate dates, and the work occurring around you.

The investigation may then involve employment and union records, Social Security records, deposition testimony, historical product information, jobsite records, witness interviews, and other evidence connecting particular products and companies to a workplace.

Medical evidence is equally important. Pathology reports, imaging, treatment records, occupational histories, and expert analysis can help establish the diagnosis and evaluate its relationship to asbestos exposure.

Because relevant witnesses and records become harder to locate with time, beginning this investigation promptly after a diagnosis can be important.

How Long Do I Have to File an Asbestos Lawsuit in New York?

New York law recognizes the unique problem posed by diseases that develop long after exposure to a toxic substance. Under New York CPLR § 214-c, an action seeking damages for personal injury caused by the latent effects of exposure to a substance generally must be filed within three years from the date the injury was discovered or reasonably should have been discovered, whichever is earlier.

That does not necessarily mean three years from the date a doctor tells you asbestos caused your condition. New York courts generally focus on the discovery of the underlying physical condition rather than the later discovery of its cause.

Other rules can affect particular claims. A wrongful death action, for example, generally has a two-year filing period measured from the person’s death, subject to the circumstances of the case.

Do not assume a claim is too old simply because the asbestos exposure occurred decades ago. Likewise, do not assume you have plenty of time because your diagnosis is recent. Our team can explain the deadlines that apply to your circumstances during a free initial case review.

What Compensation Is Available in an Asbestos Claim?

An asbestos-related illness can create significant medical expenses while preventing someone from working or enjoying the retirement they spent decades earning. Depending on the case, an asbestos lawsuit can seek compensation for losses such as medical costs, lost income, reduced earning capacity, pain and suffering, and other damages resulting from the illness.

Families who lose a loved one to mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, or another qualifying condition may also have legal rights. A wrongful death claim can seek recovery for losses resulting from the death under New York law.

Potential asbestos bankruptcy trust claims may provide an additional source of recovery for eligible individuals.

No lawyer can determine the value of your asbestos claim from a diagnosis alone. The disease, exposure history, responsible companies, medical evidence, economic losses, and other facts all affect your potential recovery.

Frequently Asked Questions About New York Asbestos Claims

Talk to Hach & Rose, LLP About Pursuing a Mesothelioma, Lung Cancer, or Asbestosis Claim

If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis, or another serious asbestos-related disease, you do not have to reconstruct decades of occupational exposure by yourself.

The New York asbestos lawyers at Hach & Rose, LLP can investigate your work history, identify potential sources of exposure and responsible companies, determine what claims may be available, and pursue financial recovery on your behalf.

Call Hach & Rose, LLP at (646) 603-1400 to discuss your potential asbestos claim today.