Collecting From A Defunct Corporation for Asbestos Injury
Because it can take decades for asbestos-related diseases to manifest after exposure to asbestos or asbestos-containing products, pursuing an asbestos-related lawsuit requires knowledge of and experience with locating viable defendants. But even after determining who to sue and successfully obtaining a judgment or settlement against that defendant, one still must be able to collect against that defendant. While pursuing an asbestos-related lawsuit on behalf of one of our clients, we encountered this problem.
Our client worked as a plumber and pipe fitter from 1957 to the mid-1970s. Client installed plumbing and heating systems alongside insulation contractors who would install asbestos pipe covering and dry asbestos cement on pipes, boilers and fittings. Plaintiffs alleged that he was exposed to asbestos dust from the mixing of the dry cement with water and from the cutting of the asbestos pipe covering while working alongside insulators employed by a certain insulation contractor.
This insulation contractor did not answer or respond to the complaint. Although the insulation contractor had insurance during the time frame of Client’s exposure to asbestos, and the lawsuit was tendered to that insurance company’s successor insurance company, the successor insurance company did not respond to or defend the lawsuit.
We filed a request for default judgment against the insulation contractor and, after the Court held a hearing for Plaintiffs to prove the requested damages, we obtained a $2.67 million dollar judgment against the insulation contractor. The insulation contractor and Plaintiffs entered into an agreement where Plaintiffs agreed not to attempt to collect on the judgment against the insulation contractor in exchange for the insulation contractor assigning its claims it might have against the successor insurance company for failing to defend it in the lawsuit.
We then filed a lawsuit against the successor insurance company in San Francisco Superior Court for breach of insurance contract, breach of the duty to defend and duty to settle, and for bad faith, amongst other causes of action. The successor insurance company removed the lawsuit to federal court.
Although there was a one-page certificate of insurance listing a policy number, no other documentation concerning the insurance policy existed. The successor insurance company contended that there was no evidence that there was an insurance policy that covered the applicable time periods, and no evidence that the insurance policy listed on the certificate of insurance would have covered our client’s claimed exposure to asbestos and subsequent diagnosis of mesothelioma.
We spent hundreds of hours researching and searching for insurance information, as well as what the terms of the insurance policy likely would have been. Although information specific to this insurance policy was not located, we were able to piece together what the terms of the insurance policy likely were, and that the insurance policy likely covered Plaintiffs’ claims. To do this, we tracked down documents from the now defunct insurance company and documents concerning the types of standard insurance policies that were issued in the 1960’s.
We also were able to locate and speak with the individuals who sold the operative insurance policies decades ago, who recalled selling insurance policies to the insulation contractor. After collecting this evidence and successfully defending several motions that would have disposed of the claims against the successor insurance company, the successor insurance company agreed to settle the case for a substantial amount.
It is cases such as this, the importance of hiring an asbestos law firm that specializes in representing only mesothelioma cases makes the difference. Mesothelioma lawsuits can be very complicated, but with over 30 years of experience and a huge collection of evidence and resources, Clapper, Patti, Schweizer & Mason can get the settlement that you deserve and that will help pay for medical costs and financial losses.
No comments:
Post a Comment