Virginia Mesothelioma Lawyer and Legal Information

The first asbestos lawsuit in Virginia was filed by Richard Glasser in 1976. Since then, there have been thousands of lawsuits filed in Virginia by people who were injured by exposure to asbestos. Virginia juries have been traditionally sympathetic to asbestos victims in court, often awarding millions in compensation to those with mesothelioma.

Virginia's history in industry, shipbuilding, transportation and defense has placed the state 10th in the nation for mesothelioma cases and diagnoses. Because so many of those exposed to asbestos were exposed in Navy shipyards, or working for shipyards or railroads where they weren't covered by workers' compensation, it's not surprising that there are so many asbestos lawsuits filed in Virginia.

Determination of Liability

Virginia is one of the few states in the U.S. that follows a pure contributory negligence system in determining whether or not to make an award of damages. Under a pure contributory negligence system, the plaintiff may not collect damages if they are judged to have contributed to their own injury in any way.

In cases that involve more than one defendant, Virginia follows a common law joint and several liability system in apportioning damages among the defendants. Under a joint and several liability system, any defendant named in the judgment can be held liable for the entire amount of the judgment.

Virginia Asbestos Litigation

Several examples of asbestos-related cases in Virginia are detailed below.

2007 - Jones v. John Crane: The Virginia Supreme Court upheld a multimillion dollar verdict awarded to the family of a former shipyard worker at the Newport News Shipyard. The suit was originally filed against John Crane, Inc, Johns Manville Corp and Garlock Sealing Technologies, three companies frequently named as defendants, but Garlock and Johns Manville settled for undisclosed amounts before the jury's decision was made. The total award was for $10.4 million. John Crane was responsible for $3.4 million of the verdict.

2006 - Oney v. John Crane and Garlock: In another case involving a Newport News shipbuilder, a Virginia jury awarded damages in the amount of $9.25 million to the widow of a shipbuilder who died of mesothelioma. Sixty percent of the award was provided by John Crane and the remainder assigned to Garlock Sealing Technologies, makers of gaskets and packings that contained asbestos.

2005 - Garlock Sealing Technologies v. Zebulon Little: A 2005 opinion written by the Newport News Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's decision to assign a portion of a judgment entered against an insolvent defendant to Garlock Sealing Technologies. The case was unusual because the trial court judge used a novel approach in apportioning part of the fault to companies that were not named as defendants at Garlock's request. The trial judge then assigned a portion of the judgment that was assigned to bankrupt entities to Garlock for payment. Garlock appealed, and the court upheld the decision of the court, stating that "We will not permit Garlock Sealing to obtain an apportionment of liability among itself and 10 entities that were not parties to this litigation and then complain about the method of apportionment."

Click here for additional information about the litigation process or for a complimentary case evaluation.

State Index