WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - Asbestos plaintiffs are getting a little older and the number of mesothelioma cases are slightly increasing, but the one constant defining the massive litigation is that Illinois courts remain the destination of choice for plaintiff lawyers.
A webinar presented Wednesday by Perrin Conferences and lead by asbestos researcher KCIC focused on future trends in asbestos litigation and predicted that 2023 would see roughly the same number of cases as in 2022.
“Illinois is far and away the epicenter where this asbestos litigation occurs,” Megan Burns told the webinar audience.
Burns, managing director of KCIC, along with manager Jazmin Gelbert, displayed charts and discussed the trending of asbestos lawsuits across the country. KCIC is a Washington D.C. business management consulting firm that advises companies on product liabilities.
During the hour session, Burns and Gelbert reported on the numbers of lawsuits, types of diseases and plaintiffs, primary and secondary exposures and future trends.
Men outnumber women in filing asbestos lawsuits and women outnumber men for talcum powder cases.
A total of 3,550 asbestos-related lawsuits were filed during 2022 nationally with 70 defendants per lawsuit on average, represented by 130 plaintiff firms. This was a decrease of 7% from 3,819 total filings in 2021 and 3,776 filings in 2020. In 2018, there were 4,140 filings.
Mesothelioma claims made up the majority of cases with 52% of all filings in 2022, a 2% increase over 2021. Lung cancer cases showed a drop in 2022 from 2021 of 18%, representing 35% of the total number of cases.
Non-malignant cancer cases amounted to 8% of the total and unknown causes 5%.
When it came to jurisdictions, Madison County, Ill. ranked number one and saw 27% of all asbestos cases. Neighboring St. Clair County, Ill. was second with 13% of all filings and New York City at third with 8%. Los Angeles accounted for 3%.
“Los Angeles saw a 50% increase in cases (2022) with mesothelioma accounting for 55%, or 32 cases,” Burns said. “In Los Angeles it was almost all mesothelioma filings. Cases there were very heavily concentrated.”
Burns described St. Clair County as the “lung cancer jurisdiction.”
St. Louis saw a 29% decline in cases during 2022 from 2021 with 58 asbestos cases while Philadelphia saw a 20% increase in cases or 7% of cases nationally.
When it came to which law firms were involved the most in asbestos litigation, the Gori Law Firm located in Edwardsville, Ill., where the Madison County courthouse is situated, was the top, providing representation in 17% of cases. The New York-based Weitz & Luxenberg law firm participated in 10% of cases while the SWMW Law of St. Louis handled 5%.
Cooney & Conway law firm of Chicago represented 3% of asbestos cases.
Of 2022 asbestos filings, 73% were made by 15 top plaintiff firms.
Other top asbestos plaintiff firms include Goldberg, Persky & White of Pittsburg and Flint Cooper of Edwardsville.
Illinois courts were a top jurisdiction for mesothelioma cases with 49% of the total, California at 9%, New York 11% and Pennsylvania 8%.
“Lung cancer made up 35% of the (asbestos) filings and decreased 18% from 2021 to 2022,” Gelbert said.
The average age of asbestos plaintiffs is in the mid 70s.
“The main takeaway is that the age range has been very similar for the past five years,” Gelbert said. “But there is a hint that the age range is getting older. We’re seeing fewer in the younger-age brackets.”
An increase in age makes sense in that mesothelioma has a long latency period, the time from asbestos exposure to illness which can take up to 40 years.
Of asbestos cases 56% were filed in a state in which the plaintiff does not live. In Illinois, 94% of cases were filed by out-of-state plaintiffs.
The research looked at two types of exposure, primary and secondary. Primary is where, for example, a person works at a factory and is exposed to asbestos. At home, that work clothing when washed exposes others secondarily. Men more often file primary exposure lawsuits while women more often for secondary exposure.
Among mesothelioma lawsuit filings, 20% involved talc powder, often used as a baby powder and as a woman’s cosmetic.
“Mesothelioma is much more common in talc filings,” Gelbert said. “Females are a lot more prevalent in talc complaints.”
Figures for the first four months of 2023 showed a decrease in asbestos filings. However, it was predicted the number of cases as the year progresses would probably remain static with those in 2022.