Mel spoke with Michael Ponterio, founding partner at Lipsitz, Ponterio and Comerford, LLC. There are many ways to get the compensation that you are due if you unfortunately have something like mesothelioma and bankruptcy trusts is just one of them.
Michael Ponterio says about 40 years ago one of the former leading manufacturers of asbestos, a company named Johns Manville filed for bankruptcy protection and they set up a trust for people that were exposed to asbestos. He says since Johns Manville there has been there have been at least 40 to 50 other companies that are now bankrupt and formed these bankruptcy trusts also.
Michael says a person diagnosed with mesothelioma, in addition to a lawsuit against viable companies has the ability to file claims against former bankruptcy trusts.
Michael says over the past 35 years our firm has accumulated a data base so we are able to, if a client comes to our firm, and says I’ve just been diagnosed with mesothelioma and I worked at Bethlehem Steel; we are able to identify which companies are responsible for supplying asbestos to Bethlehem Steel and are still profitable and viable to a law suit and in addition you can file claims against these bankrupt entities that supplied asbestos to Bethlehem Steel. So, he says in that example it is important that a claimant come see us as soon as possible so that we can submit that documentation on their behalf.
Michael says in order to qualify for payment you have to establish not just medical criteria of asbestos diagnosis but exposure at a worksite where these company’s products were.
Can families who are left behind still make claims on behalf of a loved one who has passed on from mesothelioma? Michael says we try to obtain settlement monies for a mesothelioma claimant while they are alive, and we have been very successful in doing that. He says sometimes these bankruptcy trusts take a little bit longer time, so a state representative would be substituted in if that person with mesothelioma passed away so the family would still be entitled to compensation.
Michael tells Mel that this is what my founding partner John Lipsitz and I concentrated our livelihood and practice on is helping people with asbestos disease which mesothelioma and lung cancer and we collected a database over 37 years now and we have the knowledge and experience to help individuals in Western New York make successful claims and be compensated as they should be.
You can call them at 716-849-0701.
For more information visit lipsitzponterio.com.
