A Big Win for Asbestos Workers

With tens of thousands of asbestos cases pending in U.S. courts, a Maryland judge two years ago sought to ease the backlog by consolidating more than 8,500 claims of negligence and liability. Now the first and most significant phase of the nation's single largest asbestos trial has ended with a big victory for the plaintiffs. After 12 hours of deliberation, a jury found seven companies liable for manufacturing asbestos products that they knew or should have known were dangerous to workers handling them.

Asbestos, a mineral once widely used for insulation and fireproofing, has been linked to fatal respiratory illnesses. The plaintiffs' attorneys argued that information on the health effects of asbestos was available to the industry decades before the issue gained attention in the late 1960s.

In the next phase of the trial, the jury will decide whether the companies are liable for compensatory and punitive damages; then a series of smaller trials will determine individual awards. Despite the obstacles ahead, attorneys are confident that compensation is at last in sight for the 8,500 Maryland plaintiffs. But thousands of others suffering from asbestos-related diseases may never live to receive the compensation they have pursued so painfully.