Brayton Purcell LLP
  • Home
  • Firm Overview
    • Our Beliefs
      • Giving Back
      • Our Associations And Memberships
      • The Right To Trial By Jury
    • Regions Served
      • California
      • Oregon
      • Washington
    • Careers
    • Our Employees Pets
    • Press Releases
  • Attorneys
  • Practice Areas
    • Mesothelioma/Asbestos
    • Personal Injury/Wrongful Death
    • Toxic Substances
    • Estate Planning
    • Other Areas Of Practice
  • Court Successes
    • Trial Verdicts
    • Appeals
  • Testimonials
  • Blog
  • Contact
Select Page

Asbestos Cases and Statutes of Limitations, Pt. 2

On behalf of Brayton Purcell LLP | Jan 27, 2015 | Asbestos, Firm News

A statute of limitation prohibits the filing of a lawsuit after a period of time has passed. You may be wonder why statutes of limitation exist at all. Why not allow lawsuits to be filed at any time? Well, part of the function of statutes of limitation is to prevent what are known as “stale claims.” Stale claims are those lawsuits that have become old and difficult to try.

Staleness happens when the facts of the case are no longer clear because of the passage of time. In a contract’s case, perhaps important documents have been lost or destroyed over the years. Witnesses have grown old and have forgotten details from the drafting or negotiations surrounding the contract.

In a car accident case, the vehicles may have been scrapped, the accident scene returned to its undamaged condition, other evidence has been lost, and the witnesses may have moved away or may not be available due to death or other infirmity.

With asbestos cases, this presents a significant problem, because in almost all cases, the exposure to asbestos likely occurred years, if not decades earlier, and the victims themselves may not remember the details of their activities 40 years earlier and where they may have been exposed to the deadly fibers.

Because the typical two- or three-year statute of limitation for personal injury cases would have been grossly unfair to almost all victims, as it would allow the long latency period of the disease to protect the responsible parties from the harm they caused, a different rule was developed.

This rule, known as the discovery rule, changed the timing of when the statute of limitations is triggered, from when the injury or harm occurred to when the victim first learned that they had been exposed. This allows victims of asbestos who develop an illness like mesothelioma 30 years after exposure to obtain some compensation for their harm.

Nonetheless, you still need to act as soon as you discover your illness, as the clock starts ticking, and you would not want to lose compensation you and your family will need to deal with the complication of these illnesses.

Recent Posts

  • J&J Claims New Tests Found No Asbestos in Baby Powder – Should Consumers Believe it?
  • FDA finds asbestos in baby powder
  • The Link Between Art and Illness
  • A Brief History of Why Asbestos is Still not Banned
  • The Link Between Cosmetic Talc and Mesothelioma

Archives

Categories

RSS Feed

Subscribe To This Blog’s Feed

Free Consultation

Take The First Step In Resolving Your Issue. Send Us An Email.

San Francisco
Bay Area Office

222 Rush Landing Road Novato, CA 94945

Novato Office
222 Rush Landing Road
Novato, CA 94945
Toll Free: 800-598-0314
Phone: 415-898-1555
Fax: 415-898-1247

Map & Directions

Southern California
Office

680 South Santa Fe Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90021

Los Angeles Office
680 South Santa Fe Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90021
Toll Free: 800-598-0314
Phone: 415-898-1555
Fax: 415-898-1247

Map & Directions
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
Awards and Memberships logos

© 2019 Brayton Purcell LLP. All Rights Reserved.

Disclaimer | Site Map | Privacy Policy | Business Development Solutions by FindLaw, part of Thomson Reuters

Review Us