Asbestos mesothelioma legal malpractice suit goes to trial

p>A long disputed asbestos legal malpractice trial will begin on Monday. Madison County, Illinois resident, Judy Buckles, is suing Goldenberg Heller, Antognoli and Rowland of Edwardsville for failure to secure large enough settlements in her husband’s mesothelioma claims.

Mesothelioma is an asbestos related cancer which attacks the mesothelium. The disease most commonly affects the chest cavity–causing chest pain and shortness of breath. Symptoms, however, typically lie dormant for several decades.

Treatment, therefore, tends to arrive too late for those diagnosed with the disease. And without a mesothelioma cure, patients are left with little hope. Mesothelioma treatment efforts are, unfortunately, simply palliative.

Buckles originally filed her suit in 2001, and re-filed it five years later. Buckles has also accused the firm of allowing some of her husband’s claims to lapse.

Both parties have argued over the role attorney John Simmons played in the claims. The Goldenberg defendants have even argued that it was the attorney’s fault the claims had lasped.

At one point, several attorneys overlapped in representing Buckles.

Madison County Circuit Judge, Barbara Crowder, sat down with both sides to hammer out the details of the suit. Crowder warned the parties that she may not oversee the trial. However, the judge reassured Buckles that someone will take up the suit for her.

The trial was scheduled to begin this morning.