Baron & Budd, P.C., 21 November 2007
Press Release
GALVESTON, Texas, Nov. 21 /PRNewswire/ — The law firm of Baron & Budd, P.C., is announcing an $8.2 million verdict handed down today in an asbestos lawsuit on behalf of an 73-year-old pipefitter from Texas City and his wife of more than 50 years.
The verdict in Judge John Ellisor’s 122nd District Court in Galveston includes $7.93 million in damages against Houston-based Union Carbide Corp. and Columbus, Ohio-based Hexion Specialty Chemicals Inc. Jurors also assessed $275,000 in punitive damages against Hexion.
Baron & Budd attorneys Denyse Finn Clancy and Russell W. Budd represented Oliver D. Smith and his wife Peggy Ann.
“I’m very proud of our work on behalf of Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” says Mr. Budd. “These companies knowingly exposed Mr. Smith and workers like him to dangerous asbestos, which caused him to develop the cancer mesothelioma. While we can’t undo the harm they caused, we can hold them accountable.”
Mr. Smith was exposed to asbestos while working as a pipefitter in the 1950s and 1960s. Evidence in the two-week trial showed that the dangers of asbestos exposure have been widely known since the early 1900s, but the defendants continued to expose Mr. Smith and others to dangerous asbestos products.
Hexion owned the chemical plant where Mr. Smith worked from 1957-1964. Mr. Smith also worked at a Union Carbide facility.
The damage caused by asbestos exposure can take decades to surface. Mr. Smith was diagnosed nearly 50 years after he began working as a pipefitter. He continues to fight his disease from his home in Thibodaux, La.
About Baron & Budd, P.C.
For 30 years, the law firm of Baron & Budd, P.C. has championed the rights of people and communities harmed by corporate misconduct. With more than 50 attorneys and offices in California, Texas and Louisiana, Baron & Budd enjoys a national reputation as a leader of the plaintiffs’ bar. The firm represents individuals with mesothelioma and other diseases caused by asbestos; leukemia caused by benzene; injuries caused by other toxic substances and unsafe pharmaceuticals; water authorities seeking clean-up costs for drinking water contamination; securities investors defrauded by corporate wrongdoing; and consumers in class actions.
For more information, please contact Bruce Vincent at 800.559.4534 or 214.728.6747 , or email bruce@legalpr.com.
Baron & Budd, P.C.
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