Why We Still Need to Worry About Asbestos
Authored by Kelsey McCandless
“So, what do you do?”
Whenever I answer this question and people learn that I work in a law firm specializing in asbestos litigation, I get a lot of curious looks and questions.
I am often asked why I decided to pursue this type of law and why our firm’s work is important to me, especially when “asbestos isn’t even an issue today.” It seems that, for most people, there is no question that asbestos is dangerous and that asbestos exposure can cause cancer, so they often think the work we do should be easy. The reality, however, is more complex.
It is tempting to dismiss asbestos as a problem of the past. For most of the 1900s, asbestos was widely used in construction materials in the United States because of the fiber’s strength and fireproofing properties. Despite the positive features of asbestos’s durability, scientists soon discovered that the fibers posed a health risk to those exposed. By the mid-1930s, researchers already believed in a link between asbestos fibers and life-threatening respiratory ailments, including mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis. By the 1970s, the hazardous effects of asbestos exposure were widely known and well documented.
In the decades since the initial discoveries of the harmful effects of asbestos exposure, the use of the fiber in building materials has decreased significantly in the U.S.; however, it has never been federally banned. Additionally, even after the dangers of asbestos became broadly known, some companies continued to use products that contained asbestos and failed to protect their workers from exposure.
Americans continue to feel the effects of the past widespread asbestos use today, as the fibers can take decades to cause health consequences after exposure. The time between first exposure and the development of the disease is estimated to fall between 10 and 50 years. Even 30 years after peak asbestos use in the United States, around 3,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma yearly. We have seen this firsthand with our clients.
Modern consumers are also at risk of being exposed to asbestos-contaminated products produced today. For example, earlier this year, Johnson & Johnson stated that it would end the worldwide sale of talc-based Johnson’s Baby Powder in 2023 due in part to discoveries that the product had been contaminated with asbestos into the 2000s. In addition, as recently as 2019, the Food and Drug Administration found the mineral fibers in several makeup products from the retailer Claire’s.
Despite these revelations and the science-backed research that asbestos causes cancer, there is an ongoing debate in the courtroom about whether and how much asbestos is dangerous. Corporate defendants routinely hire experts to testify that plaintiffs’ exposures to asbestos are not significant enough to contribute to their mesothelioma. They purposefully design defense strategies that manipulate dust disease science to avoid legal liability for the injuries their products cause to workers, consumers, and their family members.
When so many people assume asbestos is not a threat anymore, knowing the reality can be disheartening. This is why the work we do has meaning for me. When our clients and their family members contact us for help, we empathize with their pain and frustration and do whatever it takes to hold bad actors responsible for harming them.
Our clients are gravely ill due to no fault of their own and suffer from cancer caused by the irresponsibility of companies that did not value workers and their families. Fighting for them is what this work is all about.
Michael Shepard’s insights were featured in the Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly article, “Boston attorney among those hoping to see ‘Texas Two-Step’ waltz off into sunset.”
Recently, Michael Shepard’s insights were featured in the Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly article, “Boston attorney among those hoping to see ‘Texas Two-Step’ waltz off into sunset.”
“Right now, it’s just asbestos and talc victims,” Shepard says. “But tomorrow, it’s going to be pharmaceutical [companies]. It could be automakers. It could be any number of products that are on the market that hurt people. You’re essentially removing one of the great safeguards that we have in this country from corporate negligence or malfeasance, and that is the right to a jury trial, the right to hold that company accountable.”
Read the full article (subscription required): https://bit.ly/3owTOV5
Shepard O’Donnell’s Erika O’Donnell Presents at Women of PALS Trial Academy
Shepard O’Donnell’s Erika O’Donnell Presents at Women of PALS Trial Academy
Shepard O’Donnell, one of the top asbestos personal injury law firms in Massachusetts for 25 years, announces that the firm’s Co-Managing Partner Erika O’Donnell presented on the panel, “Negotiation and Mediation Tactics,” at the Women of PALS (Plaintiffs Asbestos Litigation Seminar) Trial Academy in Las Vegas on May 9. The seminar featured speakers from across the country and covered numerous asbestos-related litigation topics. The firm was also an event sponsor.
O’Donnell serves as co-managing partner of Shepard O’Donnell. An accomplished litigator, she has achieved numerous multi-million-dollar settlements and verdicts in cases involving mesothelioma, lung cancer and other asbestos-related diseases, smoking-related cancers and pharmaceutical drugs and devices. Most notably, O’Donnell successfully represented the Summerlin family in Summerlin v. Philip Morris USA, et al. (No. 1581CV05255, Mass. Super., Suffolk Co.), a case that brought co-defendants from an asbestos product company and a cigarette manufacturer to trial before a jury. After a five-week trial before the Suffolk Superior Court in Boston, Shepard O’Donnell secured a $43 million verdict on behalf of their client.O’Donnell is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association, the Worcester Bar Association, the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys and the American Association for Justice. She has been recognized by Massachusetts Super Lawyers since 2012.
Shepard Law Announces New Firm Leadership and Changes Name to Shepard O’Donnell
Shepard Law Announces New Firm Leadership and Changes Name to Shepard O’Donnell
Shepard Law, one of the top asbestos personal injury law firms in Massachusetts for 25 years, announces that longtime firm attorney, Erika O’Donnell, was appointed co-managing partner to run the firm alongside founder, Michael Shepard. In conjunction with the leadership change, the firm also rebranded to Shepard O’Donnell.
O’Donnell has been a key member of the Shepard Law team since 2005, when she joined the firm as an associate. Over nearly two decades, she has achieved numerous multi-million-dollar settlements and verdicts in cases involving mesothelioma, lung cancer and other asbestos-related diseases, smoking-related cancers and pharmaceutical drugs and devices. Additionally, she is a role model and mentor to other attorneys and paralegals at the firm. In recognition of her many contributions, O’Donnell was elevated to equity partner in 2019.
“Erika has worked beside me for many years, helping to build a talented, compassionate legal team,” said Shepard. “She is a fearless advocate for our clients and is a tireless fighter for them and their families. Erika is everything you want a personal injury lawyer to be, and I’m thrilled to have her lead the firm with me.”
O’Donnell’s roots growing up in a blue-collar family from Worcester, Massachusetts steered her toward a career helping sick and injured workers get the compensation they deserve for their illnesses. The opening of the firm’s second office in Worcester in 2017 allowed O’Donnell to return to her hometown and help other local families in that community. She is active in the Worcester Bar Association and is a founding member of a prestigious national group of female toxic-tort litigators. O’Donnell is highly respected by both colleagues and adversaries in the litigation field.
“As the firm celebrates its 25th anniversary, it is an honor to take on this expanded role,” said O’Donnell. “I’ve always believed it is important to hold large corporations and businesses accountable for their wrong-doings. And, with the personal injury legal sector in Massachusetts becoming more crowded with so-called ‘national firms’ looking to take mesothelioma cases, it’s equally important for clients to understand that having responsive, compassionate and sincere counsel that understands the local court system and who lives and works in the same state is crucial to success. At Shepard O’Donnell, we treat our clients the way we would want to be treated if we were in their shoes.”
Shepard Law made headline news in October 2018 with its victory in the Summerlin v. Philip Morris USA, et al. case (No. 1581CV05255, Mass. Super., Suffolk Co.)—a notable case that brought co-defendants from an asbestos product company and a cigarette manufacturer to trial before a jury. After a five-week trial before the Suffolk Superior Court in Boston, Shepard Law secured a $43 million verdict on behalf of their client. O’Donnell was involved in representing the case on behalf of the Summerlin family.
In addition to the Summerlin case, O’Donnell was involved with an asbestos mesothelioma case involving a chemical engineer who was exposed to asbestos at a large plant in Springfield, Massachusetts. That case was notable in that she was able to successfully identify and bring suit against many defendants that had never been sued before in Massachusetts for their asbestos-containing products. In 2018, O’Donnell also successfully litigated a case involving a client who worked spraying asbestos insulation in buildings as a teenager, and later developed mesothelioma as an adult in his 60s.
O’Donnell is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association, the Worcester Bar Association, the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys, and the American Association for Justice. She has been recognized by Massachusetts Super Lawyers since 2012.