Mesothelioma is a cancer, which is always fatal, and has only one known cause, namely, exposure to asbestos dust.
Because the cause of asbestos is so clearly linked to this horrible cancer, wrongful death cases associated with the disease are easier to win. When a railroad or other corporation exposes its workers to asbestos dust, they know that a good injury lawyer will be able to prove that the asbestos caused the mesothelioma.
A personal injury lawyer handling a mesothelioma case still has to prove exposure. This means that the lawyer must show some reasonable proof how and when the victim got the asbestos dust in his body. This can sometimes be difficult, where the worker has already been killed by the cancer. However, we are often able to prove the exposure by help from co-workers and records that have been collected in the past showing where and when asbestos was used and linking that to when the worker was present.
One of the scariest aspects of mesothelioma is how little asbestos dust is needed to cause the disease. Sometimes the worker would come home with just a bit of asbestos dust and his wife or children would get the disease from coming into contact with the clothing. Mesothelioma is a heartbreaking killer because it was avoidable for a long time in that corporations and insurance companies knew that the substance was dangerous, but continued to expose workers to it.
Rick Shapiro has practiced personal injury law for over 30 years in Virginia, North Carolina, and throughout the Southeastern United States. He is a Board-Certified Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (ABA Accredited) and has litigated injury cases throughout the eastern United States, including wrongful death, trucking, faulty products, railroad, and medical negligence claims. During his three-decade career, Shapiro has won client appeals before the VA Supreme Court, VA Court of Appeals, NC Supreme Court, SC Supreme Court, WV Supreme Court, TN Supreme Court, and three times before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, underscoring Shapiro’s trial achievements. In addition, he and his law firm have won settlements/verdicts in excess of $100 million. His success in and out of the courtroom is a big reason why he was named 2019 “Lawyer of the Year” in railroad law in U.S. News & World Report's Best Lawyers publication (Norfolk, VA area), and he has been named a “Best Lawyer” and “Super Lawyer” by those peer-reviewed organizations for multiple years. Rick was also named a “Leader in the Law, Class of 2022” by Virginia Lawyers Weekly (total of 33 statewide honorees consisting of lawyers and judges across Virginia). And in September 2023, Rick was selected as a recipient of the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA) 2023 President’s Award. Although many nominations were submitted from across the country, Rick was just one of eight attorneys chosen by the prestigious National Board which certifies civil trial attorneys across the U.S. Rick was also recently named to Virginia Lawyers Weekly 2024 Virginia’s Go To Lawyers Medical Malpractice. The attorneys awarded this honor are nominated by their colleagues and chosen by a panel from the publication.
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