Allentown Mesothelioma Lawyer

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Why Hire an Allentown Mesothelioma Lawyer?

The challenges of gathering evidence and building a case involving the city’s steel, manufacturing and power generation industries makes working with an Allentown mesothelioma lawyer advantageous. The right attorney knows the Lehigh Valley’s industrial history, Pennsylvania’s courts and the specific companies that put workers at risk for decades.

Working With an Allentown Mesothelioma Attorney

• Allentown and Lehigh Valley case knowledge: The Lehigh Valley’s history of steel production, truck manufacturing, cement plants and power generation created decades of asbestos exposure across multiple industries. An experienced attorney can identify connections between your diagnosis and work history.
• Case building and investigation: Your attorney reviews your full medical history, employment records and asbestos exposure timeline to identify every responsible party and build the strongest possible claim.
• Court and jurisdiction expertise: Allentown mesothelioma claims can move through the Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas, the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas or the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. We’ll assess the appropriate court to file your case in.
• Flexible access: Our attorneys come to you wherever works best for you and your family.

The Lehigh Valley’s industrial corridor, stretching from Allentown through Bethlehem and Easton, produced steel, vehicles, cement and power for most of the 20th century. That concentrated industrial history contributed to significant public health outcomes. The CDC reported 142 new mesothelioma cases in Pennsylvania in 2022, with an age-adjusted incidence rate of 0.80 per 100,000 people. This reflects the state’s long history of industrial asbestos exposure.

When Should You Contact a Mesothelioma Attorney in Allentown?

Because Allentown’s industrial history makes exposure tracing especially complex, it’s important to speak with an Allentown mesothelioma lawyer as soon as possible after your diagnosis. Your attorney needs time to trace your full asbestos exposure history across Allentown’s steel mills, manufacturing plants and power generation facilities, identify every responsible party and gather the medical and employment records that form the foundation of your lawsuit.

Many workers spent careers moving between multiple jobsites across the Lehigh Valley, including facilities in Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton, sometimes working for several employers over decades. That kind of intricate exposure history requires an attorney with thorough knowledge of Pennsylvania’s industries, courts and the companies that operated in the region.

Asbestos Exposure in Allentown, Pennsylvania

Allentown in the Lehigh Valley is in the midst of a corridor that powered American industry for most of the 20th century. Steel production, truck manufacturing, cement production and power generation defined the region’s economy and each of those industries relied heavily on asbestos for insulation, fireproofing and equipment protection from the 1930s through the late 1980s. Allentown workers often spent decades working without knowing the materials around them carried serious health risks.

Allentown Area Asbestos Exposure Sites

• Bethlehem Steel, Bethlehem: Many Allentown residents worked at this nearby steel company, which was one of the largest in U.S. history. At its peak it employed more than 30,000 workers. Asbestos-lined pipes, covered machinery, insulated walls and protected workers from intense heat throughout the facility. Bethlehem Steel filed for bankruptcy in 2001, establishing a trust fund that continues to compensate people it exposed to asbestos.
• BoRit Asbestos Superfund Site, Ambler: Workers at the site and residents of the surrounding area faced significant asbestos exposure throughout its operational years. Located about 35 miles southeast of Allentown, the BoRit site served as a disposal area for asbestos-containing waste from a nearby manufacturing plant from the early 1900s through the late 1960s. The EPA added the site to its National Priorities List in 2009 and completed remedial work in 2018.
• Mack Trucks, Allentown: The EPA identifies Mack Trucks as a Superfund site in Pennsylvania. Workers who assembled and maintained heavy trucks at the Allentown facility encountered asbestos-containing gaskets, brake linings, insulation and engine components throughout the facility’s operational years.

Because mesothelioma carries a latency period of 20 to 60 years, workers who spent their careers in Allentown’s industrial sector during the mid-20th century may only now face a diagnosis tied directly to that past exposure. Many workers accumulated exposure across multiple facilities in the Lehigh Valley over the course of their careers.

Occupations and Industries Known for Asbestos Exposure in Allentown

Allentown’s industrial economy centered on steel manufacturing, truck and vehicle production, cement manufacturing, power generation and construction throughout the mid-20th century. Workers across these industries encountered asbestos-containing materials regularly, often without adequate warning or protection. The Lehigh Valley’s dense concentration of heavy industrial employers means many workers built entire careers moving between facilities across Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton, accumulating exposure at several sites over decades.

Higher-Risk Occupations

Workers in these trades were repeatedly exposed to asbestos in insulation, gaskets, brake linings, pipe coverings, refractory materials and fireproofing compounds. Insulation installation, maintenance and removal sent hazardous fibers into the air. Inhalation of asbestos fibers is the primary cause of mesothelioma cancer.

Secondary Asbestos Exposure in Allentown

Spouses and children of Allentown steelworkers, Mack Trucks assembly workers and construction tradespeople were exposed when a worker accidentally brought asbestos fibers home from their jobsite on skin, clothes and hair. Family members breathe these fibers in, which can cause the same serious health consequences as direct occupational exposure. Pennsylvania courts recognize it as cause of mesothelioma and a valid basis for a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit.

The Nemeroff Law Firm has a record of success securing compensation for families nationwide. If someone in your household worked in Allentown’s steel, manufacturing or construction industries and you’ve received a mesothelioma diagnosis, schedule a free consultation to review your legal options.

Compensation Available for Asbestos Exposure in Allentown

Many Allentown clients pursue asbestos trust funds and personal injury lawsuits at the same time, which means compensation can come from multiple sources throughout the process. Compensation can cover both the financial and personal toll a diagnosis places on a family. These can include economic damages like medical expenses, lost wages, future care costs, funeral costs and loss of financial support. They can also cover non-economic damages like pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life and loss of consortium.

Types of Compensation Available

• Asbestos trust fund claims: Bethlehem Steel, one of Allentown’s dominant industrial employers for most of the 20th century, filed for bankruptcy in 2001 and established an asbestos trust fund as part of its reorganization. Many Lehigh Valley workers and their families qualify to file claims against it. Many qualify for multiple trusts simultaneously. Individual trust payouts average around $180,000.
• Personal injury lawsuits: When a responsible Allentown company still operates, your attorney pursues them directly in court. Nationally, mesothelioma settlements average between $1 million and $1.4 million according to Mealey’s Litigation Report, while trial verdicts average $20.7 million.
• VA benefit claims: Pennsylvania has a long history of military service and veterans who developed mesothelioma from asbestos exposure during service may qualify for VA disability compensation and free healthcare through the Department of Veterans Affairs alongside any civil claims they pursue.
• Workers’ compensation claims: People diagnosed with mesothelioma from occupational asbestos exposure may qualify for Pennsylvania workers’ compensation benefits, including medical costs and partial wage replacement. Pursuing workers’ compensation doesn’t affect your ability to file other claims.
• Wrongful death lawsuits: Pennsylvania gives surviving family members 2 years from the date of a loved one’s death to file a wrongful death claim, longer than most states. Compensation can cover medical costs incurred before death, funeral expenses, lost financial support and loss of companionship.

Asbestos trust funds set their own individual deadlines for filing. Your Allentown mesothelioma lawyer can manage all of the deadlines involved in your case. The state of Pennsylvania’s deadline or statute of limitations to file personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits means it’s important to contact an attorney as soon as possible to file your legal claim. The timeframe begins from the date of diagnosis or loss of a loved one.

There may be exceptions to deadlines available to you. Or because of where your asbestos exposure happened or where the responsible party is located, you may need to file in a different state. Your legal team at Nemeroff Law Firm can assess all factors in your case and every compensation option for you.

Notable Nemeroff Law Firm Mesothelioma Settlements

The Nemeroff Law Firm has handled mesothelioma cases in Pennsylvania for more than 30 years. In the landmark case of Tooey v. A.K. Steel, Nemeroff’s attorneys persuaded the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that workers’ compensation law doesn’t prevent legal action against negligent employers for illnesses that take decades to develop. That ruling opened the door for workers across Pennsylvania, including Allentown’s steel and manufacturing workers, to pursue the full compensation they deserve. Our Pennsylvania case results reflect decades of experience holding the state’s steel, manufacturing and industrial companies accountable.

Pennsylvania Case Results From the Nemeroff Law Firm

In Herold v. University of Pittsburgh, a Nemeroff attorney successfully argued a former university employee qualified for compensation under Pennsylvania’s Occupational Disease Act. The case reflects the firm’s approach of pursuing every available legal avenue, including lesser-known statutes that other firms might overlook. It stands among a long record of mesothelioma settlements and asbestos verdicts the Nemeroff Law Firm has secured across Pennsylvania.

How to File a Mesothelioma Claim in Allentown

Filing a mesothelioma claim in Allentown starts with a free consultation, and from that first conversation your legal team handles every deadline, document and negotiation on your behalf. Allentown cases often involve complex exposure histories spanning multiple Lehigh Valley employers across steel, manufacturing and construction industries. Cases involving EPA Superfund sites like Mack Trucks add another layer of investigation, requiring attorneys who know how to trace exposure across multiple defendants and sources simultaneously.

Steps to Filing a Mesothelioma Claim in Allentown

1. Case review: We evaluate your diagnosis, employment history and full exposure timeline to confirm you have a viable claim and identify every party that bears responsibility.
2. Venue and jurisdiction assessment: We determine the appropriate court based on where your exposure occurred and where defendants operate, whether that’s the Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas, the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas or the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
3. Records and evidence: Our team gathers medical records, employment history, product identification documents and witness testimony to build a thorough and compelling case.
4. Filing and discovery: We file your lawsuit and enter the discovery process, gathering additional evidence, deposing witnesses and identifying all liable defendants and insurers.
5. Resolution: Most mesothelioma cases resolve through settlement, but we prepare every case as though it will go to trial from day one. If we don’t reach a fair agreement, our attorneys take your case to trial.

Allentown mesothelioma claims can move through the Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas, the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas or the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania depending on where your exposure occurred and where the defendants operate. The Nemeroff Law Firm evaluates all available options and pursues every avenue of compensation for you and your family.

What to Expect When You Work With Our Mesothelioma Lawyers in Allentown

A mesothelioma diagnosis in Allentown means navigating Pennsylvania’s courts, identifying decades-old exposure sources across the Lehigh Valley’s industrial sites and building a case against companies with experienced legal teams. The firm behind landmark Pennsylvania rulings like Tooey v. A.K. Steel and Herold v. University of Pittsburgh represents families across the state from its Pittsburgh office, including Allentown and the Lehigh Valley.

Our attorneys include founding partner Rick Nemeroff, a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, a distinction that recognizes the country’s top trial lawyers. Attorneys Jennifer Black, D. Carl Money, Barrett Naman and Jeffrey O’Connell each bring decades of mesothelioma litigation experience to Pennsylvania cases. Several members of our team hold Super Lawyers recognition for their work in asbestos litigation, reflecting a depth of experience that extends from settlement negotiations to courtroom trials.

Allentown Mesothelioma Lawyer FAQs