A Virginia asbestos claim is a claim for an illness caused by breathing asbestos fibers, most often mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer or asbestosis. It is usually brought against the companies that made, sold or installed asbestos products, and in Virginia the filing period is measured from when the diagnosis is first communicated to the patient, not from the exposure.
Blank Kim Injury Law helps patients and families across Northern Virginia investigate where exposure happened and which claims are available. The case review can be done by phone, so treatment does not have to wait, and our Fairfax office on Chain Bridge Road is open 24/7. Attorney Robert Kim speaks Korean, and our paralegal team speaks Spanish.
Diseases caused by asbestos exposure
| Disease | What it affects |
|---|---|
| Pleural mesothelioma | A cancer of the lining around the lungs, the most common form |
| Peritoneal mesothelioma | A cancer of the lining of the abdomen |
| Lung cancer | Asbestos exposure raises the risk, and smoking multiplies it |
| Asbestosis | Scarring of lung tissue that makes breathing progressively harder |
| Pleural plaques and thickening | Changes to the lung lining that signal past exposure |
| Other cancers | Research links asbestos to cancers of the larynx and ovaries |
These diseases typically appear twenty to fifty years after exposure began. Many patients do not remember being around asbestos at all, because the exposure happened in a job, a home renovation or a relative’s work clothes decades earlier. Mesothelioma is almost always linked to asbestos, which makes the question of where the exposure happened central to the claim.
How people in Northern Virginia were exposed
Asbestos was used in thousands of building and industrial products through much of the twentieth century. Northern Virginia’s workforce has long included people who worked in and around the kinds of places where those products were common:
- Older federal and commercial buildings. Office workers, maintenance crews and renovation workers in buildings from the mid-twentieth century, where insulation, flooring and ceiling materials often contained asbestos.
- Military service. Veterans who served aboard ships or worked in boiler rooms, engine rooms, shipyards and older base facilities.
- Construction and building trades. Electricians, plumbers, pipefitters, drywall finishers, HVAC installers, roofers and carpenters.
- Automotive work. Mechanics who handled brakes and clutches.
- Schools and public buildings. Custodians and maintenance workers in older facilities.
- Family members. Spouses and children exposed to fibers carried home on work clothes, a pattern known as secondary or take-home exposure.
We do not assume where your exposure happened. We build a full work and residential history with you and your family, then match it to the products that were used at each site.
Virginia’s filing deadline for asbestos claims
For most injuries, Virginia’s two-year filing period starts on the day of the injury. Asbestos diseases are different. Under Va. Code § 8.01-249(4), the two-year period for an asbestos-related injury runs from the date the diagnosis of the disease is first communicated to the person, not from the date of exposure.
That rule protects people whose exposure happened decades ago, but it also means the clock is running from the day your doctor gives you the news. Families sometimes lose time dealing with treatment before thinking about a claim. Write down the date you were told, and contact an attorney as soon as you are able.
If a person with an asbestos disease dies, their personal injury claim survives under Va. Code § 8.01-25, and the family can bring a wrongful death claim through the personal representative under Va. Code § 8.01-50. A wrongful death lawsuit generally must be filed within two years of the death under § 8.01-244(B).
Ways to recover compensation
Most asbestos patients have more than one possible source of compensation, and they are not mutually exclusive:
Lawsuits against manufacturers and suppliers
Virginia does not recognize strict liability for defective products. Asbestos product claims proceed in negligence, including failure to warn, and breach of warranty, including the implied warranty of merchantability under Va. Code § 8.2-314. Privity is not required for a personal injury warranty claim under Va. Code § 8.2-318, so you do not need to have bought the product. Read more about Virginia product liability claims.
Asbestos bankruptcy trusts
Many companies that made asbestos products reorganized in bankruptcy and set up trusts to pay people harmed by their products. Each trust has its own claim process and proof requirements, and a patient exposed to several products can have claims against several trusts.
Workers’ compensation and federal employee benefits
Virginia workers’ compensation covers occupational diseases under Va. Code § 65.2-400 and following sections. Federal civilian employees are covered instead by the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act, 5 U.S.C. § 8101 and following sections, with claims made to the Department of Labor. See our page on federal employee injury claims.
Veterans
The Feres doctrine bars most claims by active-duty service members against the federal government for injuries incident to service. Veterans still have other paths, including claims against the private companies that made asbestos products used in the military and benefits through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
How we build an asbestos case
- Your history. We interview you and your family about every job, home, renovation and hobby, going back as far as needed.
- Records. We gather employment, Social Security earnings and military service records to confirm where you worked and when.
- Product identification. We match your work sites and trades to the asbestos products used there, often with the help of former co-workers.
- Medical proof. We obtain pathology and imaging and work with physicians who can give expert testimony about diagnosis and cause.
- Filing. We file the lawsuit and trust claims that apply, moving quickly because patients’ time matters.
If you are too ill to travel, the case review can be done by phone, and family members can help gather records and answer questions. Office visits in Fairfax are by appointment.
What an asbestos claim can include
An asbestos claim can seek the cost of treatment, including surgery, chemotherapy, immunotherapy and palliative care; lost income; the cost of care at home; and compensation for pain and suffering. A family’s wrongful death claim under Va. Code § 8.01-52 can include sorrow and mental anguish, lost income and services, and medical and funeral expenses.
Payments from your own health insurance generally do not reduce what a responsible company owes. The value of any claim depends on the diagnosis, the exposure history, the companies involved and the evidence linking them to the illness, and past results in other cases do not predict yours.
