As laws regarding litigation differs from state to state, so do the environmental regulations regarding its handling and disposal. In many states, any company mesothelioma planning to remove and dispose of asbestos must file reports and abide by several requirements; this may include private homeowners as well. In other states, such reporting requirements for private homeowners may be optional (although recommended); other states may have no such requirements.
For an additional list of mesothelioma resources in your region, view our list of mesothelioma state legal resources.Herein lies one of the challenges of pursuing legal action. Aside from the long latency period (malignant mesothelioma symptoms, especially in it's most common form, pleural mesothelioma, may not appear until fifty years after asbestos exposure), a typical mesothelioma lawsuit may involve numerous defendants, which may be located in multiple states. Because of the long latency period, it requires a great deal of research to determine who is ultimately responsible and under which jurisdiction such a case may fall. This is one reason that there are law firms in asbestos litigation that are national ones with offices in multiple states.
There is also the issue of the law itself. Over the past quarter century, there has been an increasing legislation and policy that favors corporations over the needs of people. Many states have passed laws intending to restrict the rights of plaintiffs to sue corporate defendants. U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) attempted to introduce a bill in 2005 that would have eliminated a plaintiff's right to sue altogether. Instead, those suffering from asbestos-related diseases would have had to recover their damages from a federal fund. This bill died in committee, was re-introduced, then tabled; no action have been taken on it since June of 2006. The point here is that laws regarding asbestos and mesothelioma are constantly changing, and not always in favor of victims.
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