Mesothelioma Victims Seek Immediate Trials
0 Comments Posted on: September 23, 2008Attorneys for three Illinois mesothelioma sufferers have petitioned the court for an immediate trial while the plaintiffs are still alive. The Madison St. Clair Record reports that the three men “claim that a provision in the Illinois constitution guarantees that a litigant has the right to ‘obtain justice by law, freely, completely, and promptly’.”
The plea goes on to note that the judge has received full documentation of their suits for compensation for the fatal cancer they have contracted as the result of asbestos exposure. The circuit court judge has indicated that he will hear cases presented to him out of order if there is a precondition of special hardship.
The plaintiffs claim that “a1983 Second District appellate ruling in…could cause their claims for punitive damages to be denied unless their cases are tried prior to their deaths.” Because mesothelioma progresses so rapidly and has such a poor survival rate, the prospect of the plaintiffs not living long enough to participate in a regularly scheduled trial is a reasonable fear. Many courts have been faced with mesothelioma lawsuits that have been completed and awards made to plaintiffs who have died during the course of litigation.
The request to the court specifically requests inclusion in the upcoming docket “in order to reasonably ensure that they survive to prosecute their claims and personally appear before a jury.”
