Along With More Filings, 2012 Brought New Players To Asbestos Docket
From the Madison County Record
While last year’s spike in Madison County asbestos filings might not have surprised area attorneys, the reason behind the increase isn’t so easy to pinpoint.
If you ask Associate Judge Clarence Harrison, who presides over the asbestos docket, he’ll make the answer sound simple: “There are more filings because more people filed.”
Some attorneys, however, question whether Harrison’s decision to eliminate the practice of setting asbestos trials in advance might have opened up the door for more lawyers, and potentially more suits, to make their way into Madison County’s court system.
Others acknowledge that while the end of the advanced trial setting did provide an opportunity for smaller firms and new players to get more involved than in the past, it doesn’t necessarily have any connection to an increase in filings.
Figures from the Madison County Circuit Clerk show that 1,563 asbestos lawsuits were filed last year, an increase of more than 600 cases from 2011. With the exception of a slight dip in 2010, asbestos filings have been on a steady increase since 2006.
And a review of 2012 asbestos filings by The Record via eMagnus shows that dozens of these suits were filed by relatively new players in the Madison County asbestos game.
The majority of last year’s asbestos cases, however, were brought by several of the firms that have historically brought these suits, including nearly 500 by the Simmons Law Firm in Alton and about 340 by Gori Julian & Associates in Edwardsville.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Madison County Record
While last year’s spike in Madison County asbestos filings might not have surprised area attorneys, the reason behind the increase isn’t so easy to pinpoint.
If you ask Associate Judge Clarence Harrison, who presides over the asbestos docket, he’ll make the answer sound simple: “There are more filings because more people filed.”
Some attorneys, however, question whether Harrison’s decision to eliminate the practice of setting asbestos trials in advance might have opened up the door for more lawyers, and potentially more suits, to make their way into Madison County’s court system.
Others acknowledge that while the end of the advanced trial setting did provide an opportunity for smaller firms and new players to get more involved than in the past, it doesn’t necessarily have any connection to an increase in filings.
Figures from the Madison County Circuit Clerk show that 1,563 asbestos lawsuits were filed last year, an increase of more than 600 cases from 2011. With the exception of a slight dip in 2010, asbestos filings have been on a steady increase since 2006.
And a review of 2012 asbestos filings by The Record via eMagnus shows that dozens of these suits were filed by relatively new players in the Madison County asbestos game.
The majority of last year’s asbestos cases, however, were brought by several of the firms that have historically brought these suits, including nearly 500 by the Simmons Law Firm in Alton and about 340 by Gori Julian & Associates in Edwardsville.
Read more in our daily News Update...