Asbestos

50 Years Representing Newport News Mesothelioma Victims

During the last 50 years, PWHD has successfully represented and obtained compensation for over 1000 people who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma from asbestos exposure and thousands of others who were diagnosed with asbestos related lung cancer or asbestosis. These clients were diagnosed in hospitals throughout Tidewater Virginia including Newport News, Hampton, Williamsburg, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Suffolk.

If you have been diagnosed with Mesothelioma, Lung Cancer, or Asbestosis, call us for a free consultation, or fill out our contact form. We will come to you. Our firm only receives attorney fees if we recover money for our clients. If we do not recover any money there are no attorney fees. In other words, you pay nothing unless we win your case.

What Is Asbestos and Why Was It Used in Newport News? 

Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral consisting of microscopic fibers that resist heat, fire, and chemicals. Asbestos fibers were incorporated into over 3,000 products during the 20^th century. The intended uses of these products required cutting, mixing, sawing, hammering, drilling, scrapping, sanding, grinding, and these activities always released millions of microscopic asbestos fibers into the air. Workers could not see these asbestos fibers, but the fibers were inhaled into their lungs and bodies. Unfortunately, nothing happens when you inhale asbestos fibers until a period 20, 30, 40, or 50 years of time passes. Only then do the symptoms of an asbestos related diseases occur and only then can a diagnosis of an asbestos related disease be made. This long latency period between the time of exposure and the time of diagnosis is why workers needed to be warned that breathing asbestos could cause deadly diseases. 

Tidewater Virginia is home to many of the largest shipyards in the United States. Including Newport News shipyard, Norfolk Naval shipyard, Norfolk shipbuilding and drydock company, and many other smaller shipyards. This is significant because asbestos containing products were used throughout the construction and repair of ships. In Newport News alone hundreds of thousands of shipyard workers were exposed to uncontrolled airborne asbestos fibers in the 40 year period between World War II and the 1980s. Tidewater Virginia is also home to the largest naval base in the United States and throughout this same period of time Navy sailors were exposed to asbestos on a daily basis on board Navy ships throughout the world. As a consequence of these shipyard, Navy, railroad, and other industrial asbestos exposures, Tidewater Virginia has experienced an epidemic of asbestos related diseases for more than 50 years. The epidemic continues today. 

Secondary Exposure Locations

Family members of shipyard workers, railroad workers, and others who worked with asbestos sometimes developed diseases through secondary exposure. Workers carried asbestos fibers home on their clothing, hair, and skin, exposing their loved ones to dangerous fibers. Approximately ten percent of mesothelioma cases in Tidewater Virginia have occurred in family members due to this secondary exposure. 

Common asbestos exposures in Newport News and Tidewater Virginia to shipyard workers and Navy sailors:

• Boilers, turbines, steam lines, and engine room equipment
• Gaskets and packing for valves pumps
• Pipe and block insulation
• Asbestos cements
• Asbestos piping
• Deck and bulkhead insulation
• Electrical wiring and components
• Thermal blankets
• Asbestos flooring

The companies that manufactured and supplied these asbestos products knew about the health dangers beginning in the 1930s and failed to warn workers and the public about these dangers until the late 1970s. This long-standing negligence by the asbestos industry is why PWHD has won dozens of million-dollar jury verdicts against the asbestos industry beginning in 1978 and continuing until 2025. Respect for these verdicts has enabled PWHD to settle thousands of lawsuits for asbestos victims without the expense and risk of jury trials.

How Do I Know If My Illness Is Related to Asbestos Exposure?

If your physician has diagnosed you with mesothelioma, lung cancer, or asbestosis our job will be to determine how you were exposed to asbestos and where. If you do not have a diagnosis of mesothelioma, lung cancer, or asbestosis you must receive a diagnosis before our office can successfully obtain compensation for you or your family.

An Accurate History of Working Where Asbestos Was Present

Did you work in any shipyards, on Navy or commercial ships, construction sites, or other industrial facilities? These occupational exposures create a strong connection to asbestos-related diseases.

Documented evidence of your work history is essential for proving your case. Our investigation requires that we obtain the following:

• Employment records
• Job descriptions
• Descriptions of asbestos products, trade names, manufactures, etc.
• Witness statements from coworkers
• Ship logs
• Military service records.
• Medical records, Pathology, X-rays, CT Scans, etc.
• Social security records

Our experienced legal team can help you gather this evidence. When we receive these materials, our attorneys will consult with medical specialists who can provide testimony about the link between your exposure and your disease.

We work with medical professionals, industrial hygienists, and other specialists to build compelling evidence for your claim.

What Compensation Can Asbestos Victims Recover?

If you have been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease, you may be able to seek multiple types of compensation under Virginia law or Maritime law, (which applies to shipyard cases, merchant seamen, and Navy sailors).

• Medical Expenses: All past and future treatment costs, including hospitalizations, surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation, medications, and ongoing care.
• Lost Wages and Earning Capacity: Compensation for income lost due to your inability to work, both past and future.
• Pain and Suffering: Compensation for physical pain, emotional distress, reduced quality of life, and impact on daily activities and relationships.
• Loss of Consortium: Your spouse may recover compensation for loss of society, companionship, and support.
• Funeral and Burial Expenses: Recovery of costs if your loved one passed away from an asbestos-related disease.
• Grief, Sorrow, and Solace: For the death of a loved one.
• Bankruptcy Trust Fund Payments: These payments are established by bankruptcy courts for asbestos victims who satisfy specific medical and exposure requirements. There are over 30 companies who formerly manufactured asbestos containing products, who have established criteria for payment to workers or their families who contract asbestos related diseases from asbestos products that were formerly sold by these companies.
• Punitive Damages: For willful misconduct or reckless disregard for worker safety.

Over the past 50 years the lawyers for Patten, Wornom, Hatten, and Diamonstein have cumulatively secured more than a billion dollars for the thousands of asbestos victims that they have represented in the state of Virginia.

Time Limits are Critical to an Asbestos Claim for Personal Injury or Death

The law strictly limits the time you have to file an asbestos-related lawsuit for personal injuries. Understanding these deadlines is critical to protecting your legal rights. Different time periods apply in each state. Maritime law also has its own time limit for filing claims. Under Virginia law and Maritime law, the statute for limitations for victims of asbestos related disease begins to run when a diagnosis of an asbestos related disease is communicated to a patient by a doctor. 

Virginia Law Time Limits

Under Virginia law a lawsuit must be filed within two years of the date on which the diagnosis is first communicated to the patient. If no lawsuit is filed within this two year period, no lawsuit can be filed thereafter for personal injury damages or wrongful death. 

If a patient dies less than two years after the diagnosis was communicated and no lawsuit has been filed a wrongful death lawsuit can nevertheless be filed within two years of the date of death. No lawsuit can be filed for wrongful death damages more than two years after the date of death.

Maritime Law Time Limits

Under Maritime law a lawsuit must be filed within three years of the date on which the diagnosis is first communicated to the patient. If no lawsuit is filed within this three year period, no lawsuit can be filed thereafter for personal injury damages or wrongful death.

Under Maritime law If a patient dies less than three years after the diagnosis was communicated and no personal injury lawsuit has been filed, a wrongful death lawsuit can nevertheless be filed within three years of the date of death. No lawsuit can be filed for wrongful death damages more than three years after the date of death.

Separate Time Limits for Asbestos-Related to Cancer (Mesothelioma and Lung Cancer) 

Both Virginia law and Maritime law recognize that persons who are exposed to asbestos may develop multiple asbestos related diseases, at different times, therefore, 

The law allows separate claims and separate time limits for:

Nonmalignant claims (for example ASBESTOSIS AND PLEURAL PLAQUES) and separate time limits for cancer claims (for example MESOTHELIOMA, LUNG CANCER, AND OTHER ASBESTOS RELATED CANCERS)

The time limit for filing an asbestos related personal injury cancer claim, like mesothelioma or lung cancer does not begin before the diagnosis of the cancer is made, regardless of whether a claim for asbestosis was filed or prosecuted and regardless of whether the time limit for filing an asbestosis claim has expired. The time limit for a personal injury cancer claim does not begin to run until the patient discovers that the cancer was caused by asbestos exposure. 

Time Limits for Wrongful Death Due to Asbestos-Related Disease

Under Virginia law a claim for asbestos related death must be filed within 2 years of the death regardless of when the family discovered that the cancer was asbestos related. 

Under Maritime law a claim for asbestos related death must be filed within 3 years of  the date of death, regardless of when the family discovered that the death was asbestos related. 

If you miss these deadlines, Virginia courts will dismiss your case, and you will lose your right to recover compensation. This is true even if you have strong evidence of asbestos exposure and disease.

It takes time to build a strong case, which is why we strongly recommend seeking legal help as soon after receiving your diagnosis as possible.

PWHD Are Local Lawyers With a National Reputation

For the past 50 years, we have successfully prosecuted thousands of claims for Virginia citizens who were employed in the shipyards, railroads, Merchant Marines, United Stated Navy, power plants, refineries, and manufacturing facilities throughout Virginia. Most of the claims filed in the state of Virginia against the asbestos industry were filed and prosecuted by PWHD. Newport News has been previously referred to as “the hell hole” for the asbestos industry because PWHD has won or settled so many lawsuits against the asbestos industry here.

Some of the pioneering and landmark accomplishments of PWHD include: 

• In 1975 PWHD filed the first workers compensation claims for asbestosis against the Newport News shipyard under the Longshoreman and Harbor Workers Compensation Act.
• In 1976 PWHD filed the first asbestos lawsuits in Newport News against the asbestos industry including 40 different manufactures of asbestos containing products.
• In 1977 PWHD won the first workers compensation claims under the Long Shore and Workers Compensation Act against the shipyard for 11 asbestos victims. 
• In 1978 PWHD won the first jury verdict against Johns-Manville corporation for a mesothelioma victim who worked as an operator at the Yorktown refinery. This was only the third verdict against the asbestos industry in the entire United States.
• In 1979 PWHD won the first jury verdict against Johns-Manville corporation for four Newport News shipyard pipe coverers who were disabled from asbestosis.
• In 1981 PWHD established the duty of asbestos manufactures to warn shipyard workers and the application of Maritime law for the benefit of asbestos victims which provided greater damages and more liberal evidentiary requirements for claims. 
• In 1982 PWHD Lawyers were appointed by the bankruptcy court in New York City to a select group of 15 lawyers to represent all of the asbestos victims in the United States in the development of a plan to compensate all of the workers in the United States who contracted asbestos related diseases from Johns-Manville products.
• In 1983 PWHD successfully began prosecuting claims for Newport News shipyard workers in Dallas, Texas to avoid Virginia’s statute of limitations, which was unfairly preventing workers from being compensated. This strategy forced the law of Virginia to be changed.
• In 1985 PWHD Lawyers sponsored and achieved passage of a new statute of limitations in the Virginia General Assembly for the benefit of asbestos victims. This new law provided that the time limit for these claims did not begin to run until the worker received a diagnosis of an asbestos related illness from a doctor.
• In 1986 PWHD Lawyers played a leadership role in negotiations that created the first asbestos bankruptcy trust fund in the Johns-Manville bankruptcy. This trust fund has become the model for bankruptcy trust funds for the next 30 years.
• In 1987 PWHD’s Lead trial lawyer, Robert R. Hatten was presented with the first courageous advocacy by the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association for his accomplishments on behalf of asbestos victims.
• In 1990 PWHD lawyers successfully prosecuted 1000 consent judgments against the Manville corporation forcing a second bankruptcy and creating the largest recovery for asbestos victims in Virginia history.
• In 1991 PWHD Lawyers were appointed lead counsel in the national multi-district of consolidation of all federal asbestos lawsuits in the United States that were transferred to Philadelphia.
• In 1991 PWHD Lawyers obtained the first Jury verdict in Virginia for punitive damages against Owens-Corning Fiber Glass Company, a major manufacturer of asbestos containing products.
• In 1992 PWHD lawyers obtain the first jury verdict again Owens-Corning Fiber Glass Company in the Federal court in Roanoke, Virginia. 
• Between 2006 and 2011 (6 Consecutive years), PWHD Lawyers verdicts against the asbestos industry are in the top 10 personal injury in the state of Virginia verdicts 
• Between 2000-2010 PWHD Lawyers were appointed by multiple bankruptcy courts to develop asbestos trust funds for large asbestos product manufactures including Owens-Corning Fiber Glass, Pittsburg Corning Corporation, and C.E Thurston. 
• In 2007 PWHD’s managing partner was designated as “a leader of the law” one of only 7 lawyers in the state of Virginia to receive this honor.
• In 2011-2025 PWHD continued to obtain multiple multimillion-dollar verdicts and hundreds of settlements against various manufacturers of asbestos products.