Mesothelioma Lawyers

Your interrogatories and depositions

Even before we begin a lawsuit on your behalf, we need to investigate your medical and work history to determine the extent of your disease, its probable cause, and the parties who are responsible for your exposure to asbestos. This investigation doesn't stop after we have sufficient information to begin your lawsuit.

Once we file a lawsuit on your behalf, we need to continue preparation so that we have the best chance of obtaining a favorable outcome. This means the discovery process continues so that we can gather sufficient information to bring your case to trial or negotiate a favorable settlement.

We will gather information from the other side through the use of demands for documents and through written questions called interrogatories. The defendants will also request documents from you, such as your medical records and work history, and will serve us with interrogatories for you to answer.

You are a very important part of this process.

Interrogatories are a very common means of discovery in product liability cases, such as a case against those who manufactured and/or otherwise exposed people to asbestos or asbestos-containing products. Interrogatories must be answered under oath within a time period specified by the rules of the court. Our mesothelioma attorneys and paralegals will work with you to make sure all questions are answered completely and accurately, and will advise you if you need to gather documents in addition to those we will have already obtained in preparing your case.

In most lawsuits, the defendants request a deposition of the plaintiff. In a deposition, the attorney representing defendants will have the opportunity to ask the plaintiff questions under oath before the case goes to trial. Mesothelioma cases are unusual, however, because defendants generally do not want to depose the mesothelioma plaintiff.

The first defense in any product liability case is that the plaintiff was not exposed to, or did not use, the defendant's product. If you cannot prove exposure in an asbestos lawsuit, nothing else is relevant - and the person best able to identify the products used and the defendants who exposed him to asbestos is generally the plaintiff.

Sadly, because mesothelioma is such a deadly disease, mesothelioma defendants recognize that there is a high likelihood that the plaintiff will not live until the time of trial. So, in mesothelioma lawsuits, it is generally the plaintiff's lawyers who move quickly to depose their client in order to preserve this testimony for the trial.

A deposition is generally taken in a conference room in an attorney's office where a notary public will ask the plaintiff to swear under oath that his answers are true. The testimony can be used at trial if the plaintiff dies or becomes too disabled to testify by that time. This is your opportunity to tell what you've been through in the hope that you and your family will be fairly compensated for your injuries. The plaintiff's deposition in a mesothelioma lawsuit is usually taken in front of a video camera because it will most likely be used at trial. A mesothelioma attorney from Williams Kherkher will be with you for your entire deposition to ensure that the deposition is conducted fairly and properly.

It is more compelling for a dying plaintiff, as opposed to the surviving spouse or children, to discuss his or her injuries, but family members can also provide testimony if the person exposed to asbestos has died before the case begins. If your loved one has died from mesothelioma, contact us as quickly as possible, as it may not be too late to begin a lawsuit.