NEWTON, MA - The Law Offices of James Sokolove (LOJS), dedicated to providing equal access to the civil justice system, announced that its MesoRC website ( www.MesoRC.com) has received a prestigious WebAward from the Web Marketing Association as one of the best web sites in 2008. Joining prior winners in the Health Care Standard of Excellence category, the website scored a first ever win for a law firm in that category.

This year's competition saw more than 2,400 sites from 45 countries being judged in 96 industry categories. Entries were judged on design, copy writing, innovation, content, interactivity, navigation, and technology.

"Our firm was founded with the mission that consumer legal needs are best met by giving consumers important and timely information," said James Sokolove, founder of LOJS. "In envisioning MesoRC, we wanted to build an innovative online community that would embody that mission by allowing mesothelioma victims and their loved ones to benefit from the experiences of others and to make their voices heard as they face life altering situations."

To Read the Press Release in its entirety, Click Here

Steven Dux, of Colorado, has filed an asbestos lawsuit against 13 companies on behalf of his father. Dux claims that the mesothelioma his father, Andres Martinez, was diagnosed with was wrongfully caused. Martinez was diagnosed with the disease on March 14, 2007, and died November 6, 2007.

The suit claims that from 1952 to 1990, while Martinez worked as a laborer and heavy equipment operator at various locations, he was exposed to and inhaled asbestos fibers. Moreover, the suit claims that Martinez’s exposure was foreseeable and should have been anticipated by the defendants.

Due to the asbestos exposure, Dux alleges that his father became disabled and disfigured, which required him to spend large amounts of money for medical, hospital, and other health services necessary to treat the disease. As a result of his mesothelioma, Martinez experienced great physical pain and mental agony. Furthermore, the disease hindered and prevented Martinez from pursuing employment and as a result he lost large sums of money.

Dux is seeking sums in excess of $50,000 and compensatory damages in excess of $100,000. He is also seeking a large amount of punitive damages to punish the defendants for their wrongdoing in an attempt to discourage similar parties from committing comparable acts of misconduct in the future.

As the seven-year anniversary of the September 11 World Trade Center attacks approaches, studies are showing that for many of those who aided in rescue and recovery efforts, physical and psychological ailments continue to be a problem.

One of the biggest question marks surrounding the lingering ailments is the effect of the dust-laden air surrounding the collapse of the WTC towers. "What was in the air that day? Pretty much everything that had been in two 100-story buildings--but in vaporized form," says Mike Magee, M.D.

Magee goes on to say "The problem is that it is possible we were not measuring the right things at the time. For example, we are now learning the dangers of nanotubes, micro-miniaturized rolled up sheets of carbon that may be of future use in electronics. A study revealed that mice exposed to the substance responded with cancer development in the same way as when exposed to asbestos. There were no nanotubes in the Twin Towers, and asbestos measures at the time were supposed to be OK. But what about all the other vaporized computers, electronics and building materials we'd never expect to be in our air under normal circumstances?"

The full scope of physical and psychological problems stemming from the September 11 attacks may not be known for many years and there are certainly many challenges that lie ahead. Experts predict that it’s likely we will see problems surrounding 9/11-related illnesses for years to come and that thousands of these individuals will likely need lifelong care.

An Illinois man has filed an asbestos lawsuit against 79 companies. Raymond Hostert, who suffers from mesothelioma, is claiming that his disease was wrongfully caused while working as a drill press operator, truck driver, machine operator and mechanic from 1952 through 1999 at various locations throughout Illinois.

Hostert claims that during his employment with various companies, he was exposed to and inhaled asbestos fibers that originated from products he was using.  The complaint officially says that, "The plaintiff's exposure and inhalation, ingestion or absorption of the asbestos fibers was completely foreseeable and could or should have been anticipated by the defendants.” He also claims that the defendants included asbestos in their products even when sufficient substitutes were available. Moreover, the defendants failed to provide any or adequate instructions concerning the safe methods of working with asbestos.

Hostert has been unable to locate documents regarding asbestos-use among his former employers.  He believes these documents were destroyed and has noted that this may be harmful to his case. Hostert is seeking over $400,000 in damages for negligence, willful and reckless acts, conspiracy, and negligent spoliation of evidence among other allegations. Defendants in the case include Bondex International, CBS, Chrysler, Federal-Mogul Asbestos Personal Trust, Ford Motor Company, General Electric, General Motors, Goodyear, Honeywell International, Ingersoll-Rand, International Paper, John Crane, MetLife, Philips Electronics and Trane US.

On June 24th, Brandy Kieschnick, the daughter of deceased DuPont employee, Walter Dunn, filed a lawsuit against E.I. DuPont De Nemours and Co. and several other companies, including Viacom, Union Carbide and MetLife.

According to the plaintiff, Dunn worked as an inspector and pipe-fitter for DuPont and other companies for a "period of many years," where he was allegedly exposed to asbestos fibers. Dunn was exposed to asbestos "while working in powerhouses, refineries, commercial buildings, steel mills and plants," the suit says, adding that he "inhaled great quantities of asbestos fibers."

As an alleged result of being exposed to asbestos, Walter Dunn died on June 23, 2006.

On top of exemplary damages, the plaintiff is suing for her father's physical pain, mental anguish, lost wages, loss of earning capacity, physical impairment, and medical expenses.