Asbestos Cover-up
Asbestos companies knew about the dangers of asbestos exposure but continued to put Virginia workers and their families at risk for malignant mesothelioma cancer. Protect Your Rights.
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Virginia Mesothelioma Lawyers: Record in Asbestos Litigation
Patten, Wornom, Hatten & Diamonstein
A local firm with a national reputation
Bobby Hatten's Record:
What's our record in protecting the rights of asbestos victims?
| 1975 | Filed first asbestos worker’s compensation claims for Virginia shipyard workers for mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer against the Newport News Shipyard. | ||
| 1976 | Filed first product liability lawsuits in Newport News, Virginia for mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer against Johns-Manville Corporation and 40 other asbestos companies. | ||
| 1977 | Won first worker’s compensation trial for 11 asbestosis victims with claims against the Newport News Shipyard. | ||
| 1978 | Won first Virginia jury verdict for a mesothelioma victim against Johns-Manville Corporation for $750,000. (This was only the 3rd verdict against any asbestos manufacturer in the United States.) | ||
| 1979 | Won first jury verdict for asbestosis victims against Johns-Manville for $1,640,000. | ||
| 1981 | Won first Federal Court of Appeals decision to permit maritime law to be applied to shipyard workers who were victims of asbestosis, lung cancer, or mesothelioma. | ||
| 1983 | Appointed to 15-member committee by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York City to represent all asbestos victims in the United States in the negotiation of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy trust fund with Johns-Manville Corp. | ||
| 1984 | Formed grassroots political organization, composed of over 1,000 clients, entitled Virginia Asbestos Victims, Inc., for the purpose of changing Virginia’s statute of limitations as it applied to asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma. | ||
| 1985 | Lobbied for and successfully persuaded the Virginia General Assembly to adopt a special statute of limitations for asbestos victims which would begin to run two years from the date of diagnosis—not two years from the date of last exposure. | ||
| 1985-91 | Pursuant to orders of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, PWHD lawyers prepared 15 cases for trial by jury every two weeks, and for the next six years dozens of cases went to verdict for the plaintiff and hundreds of cases for asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma were settled. | ||
| 1987 | Helped to successfully negotiate the first multi-billion dollar settlement with Johns-Manville Corporation in the Bankruptcy Court of New York to pay asbestos victims for the next 50 years. | ||
| 1990 | Largest consolidated judgment in the history of Federal Court in Norfolk, Virginia, for 1,000 asbestos victims totaling $77 million. | ||
| 1991 | First Newport News State Court jury verdict for $1 million against Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., a manufacturer of asbestos pipecovering. | ||
| 1991 | First punitive damages award in Virginia against an asbestos manufacturer, i.e. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp. | ||
| 1992 | First consolidated trial in the Virginia State courts for over 1,000 asbestos victims. All cases settled. | ||
| 1993-94 | Contributed to the negotiation of settlement protocol with asbestos manufacturers for national class action settlement. | ||
| 1995 | Selected by lawyers throughout the United States representing asbestos victims to testify as the “Fairness Witness” for multi-billion dollar national class action settlement. | ||
| 1999 | Appointed by the Bankruptcy Court in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to a committee of 15 lawyers to represent asbestos victims and to negotiate a national settlement with Pittsburgh Corning Corporation. That multi-billion dollar settlement was finally announced in 2009. | ||
| 2003 | Appointed to the Plaintiffs Creditors Committee of the Babcock & Wilcox Company Asbestos Personal Injury Settlement Trust of New Orleans, Louisiana, to represent asbestos victims and to negotiate a national settlement with this company. The multi-billion dollar settlement was finally announced in 2006. | ||
| 2004 | Appointed member of a 6-member panel of the Creditors Committee of Asbestos Claimants of Norfolk, Virginia, to represent asbestos victims and to negotiate a settlement with C. E. Thurston. The settlement was announced in 2006. | ||
| 2006 | Landmark Virginia Supreme Court decision applying admiralty jurisdiction and general maritime law to mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestos victims who were exposed to asbestos during ship construction and ship repair. | ||
| 2006-09 | Top 10 Verdicts in Virginia - Four years in a row:
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What do others say about us?
- Highest Martindale-Hubble Peer Rating of Lawyers – AV rating – Robert R. Hatten, Donald N. Patten
- Board of Directors of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association – Robert R. Hatten, Donald N. Patten
- Selected by their peers as “The Best Lawyers in America” – Robert R. Hatten, Donald N. Patten
- Served as President of the Virginia Trial Lawyer’s Association – Donald N. Patten
- Designated as Super Lawyer by Virginia Lawyers Weekly – Robert R. Hatten, Donald N. Patten, William W.C. Harty
- One of first seven recipients of Virginia Lawyers Weekly’s Lawyers in the Law for Lifetime Achievement – Robert R. Hatten
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