Pennsylvania Mesothelioma Lawyer
Legally Reviewed By: Darron E. Berquist
Managing Attorney | Mesothelioma & Asbestos
- Page Last Updated:
- April 3, 2025
Legally Reviewed By: Darron Berquist
Managing Attorney | Mesothelioma & Asbestos
- Page Last Updated:
- April 3, 2025
Pennsylvania has historically been a worldwide leader in industries like manufacturing, rail transport, and power generation. However, as asbestos use peaked in the 20th century, workers in these industries were exposed to its deadly fibers and later developed mesothelioma, a rare and aggressive cancer.
Hundreds of Pennsylvania residents are diagnosed with asbestos-related illnesses every year, with 137 mesothelioma diagnoses and 122 deaths in 2020 alone. Beaver, Butler, Washington, and Cambria counties had the highest per-capita rates of mesothelioma diagnoses, and other counties throughout the state are home to naturally occurring asbestos deposits.
If you or your loved one has been diagnosed with an asbestos-related illness, the compassionate Pennsylvania mesothelioma lawyers with The Lanier Law Firm can help you pursue financial compensation. Contact us online for a free case.
Why Choose The Lanier Law Firm?
We are an award-winning nationwide law firm with over three decades of experience standing up to wealthy corporations on behalf of asbestos exposure victims. Our Pennsylvania mesothelioma attorneys are successful trial lawyers with a proven record of successful case results, recovering more than $20 billion for our clients.
Mesothelioma claims are complex, and asbestos product manufacturers are powerful corporations that prefer to use their vast resources to fight victims rather than compensate them. However, these companies are no match for our experienced Pennsylvania asbestos lawyers. We provide compassionate, personalized service to every client and will go to whatever lengths necessary to win the compensation you deserve.
Our Successful Mesothelioma Case Results
We have consistently obtained large mesothelioma settlements and verdicts for our clients, such as the following:
- $115 million for 21 steel mill workers exposed to asbestos through a cutting tool
- $4.5 million for a man who developed mesothelioma from two years of exposure to asbestos-laced joint compound
- $3.859 million for the family of a deceased woman exposed to asbestos on her husband’s work clothes
- $2 million for a former shipyard worker with pleural mesothelioma
- $1.452 million for the family of a deceased maintenance worker exposed to asbestos while servicing pumps, boilers, and valves
Meet Our Pennsylvania Mesothelioma Attorneys
Our attorneys are some of the most well-known asbestos lawyers in the nation. We are regularly called upon to provide keynote addresses and lectures at various attorney events. We have been honored with some of the most prestigious awards and designations in the legal field because of our leadership and accomplishments in asbestos litigation. This recognition includes the following:
- Super Lawyers
- Top 100 Trial Lawyers
- Best Lawyers in America
- Lawdragon Legal Legends
Mark Lanier
Mark Lanier is consistently recognized as one of the top civil trial attorneys in the United States. He is well-known for his courtroom charisma and creative approach to every case. He founded the Lanier Law Firm in 1990 with a mission to provide the highest quality of honest and professional legal care to every client.
Darron Berquist
Darron Berquist is a mesothelioma lawyer who has been nationally recognized as one of the Best Lawyers in product liability litigation because of his outstanding results in mesothelioma cases. His clients know him for his compassion and attention to detail.
Client Testimonials
Every mesothelioma case we handle is personal to us. With a proven track record of success nationwide, our dedicated team has the experience and resources to fight for you after a mesothelioma diagnosis. But don’t just take our word for it—hear from our clients.
Occupations At Risk for Asbestos Exposure in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvanians who have worked in the following industries may have experienced significant occupational asbestos exposure and have a heightened risk of developing mesothelioma:
Pennsylvania was the steel-making capital of the world for over a century. Manufacturers like Aliquippa Steel Company, National Steel Company, Pittsburgh Steel Foundry, US Steel, and Bethlehem Steel Mill used asbestos to insulate against heat in boilers, turbines, and gaskets during steel production. Although the industry collapsed in the 1980s, steel mill workers in Pennsylvania are still developing mesothelioma and other deadly illnesses due to asbestos exposure.
Textile and apparel were among Philadelphia’s largest early industries—and were largely responsible for occupational asbestos exposure among women. Asbestos was commonly woven directly into fabrics during textile production to make clothing fire-resistant. Workers were also exposed via factory machinery, boilers, and building components.
Pennsylvania is the second-leading state in the nation for nuclear power generation. Nuclear power plants built before 1990, including the Susquehanna Nuclear Power Plant in Luzerne County, the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station on the Susquehanna River, and the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Beaver County, may still harbor asbestos.
Thanks to the extensive use of asbestos in ship insulation, boilers, engines, and plumbing, workers faced heavy exposure at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Company, William Cramp and Sons, and similar facilities. The use of asbestos on Navy vessels was so extensive that military veterans account for a third of all mesothelioma cases in the United States.
Pennsylvania is home to 5,600 miles of track and 65 railroad companies. Many of those companies, including General Electric Transportation Systems and the Pennsylvania Railroad, used asbestos in their engine-making process. Railroad workers in Pennsylvania have experienced significant asbestos exposure through engine gaskets, contaminated cargo, brake components, train car wallboard and flooring, and more.
Asbestos was a common component in the construction of military barracks, particularly on army bases. It was used in flooring, plaster, plumbing, roofing materials, cement, adhesives, and paint. Personnel may still be exposed to asbestos today when residing in military housing built before the 1980s, including all four of Pennsylvania’s army bases and both naval bases.
Most school buildings in Pennsylvania were constructed when asbestos was widely used, and schoolteachers are twice as likely to develop mesothelioma as the general population. Only four of the nearly 300 active buildings in the School District of Philadelphia have been declared fully asbestos-free.
Learn More About
Filing a Mesothelioma Lawsuit
- Are you eligible?
- What is the average settlement?
- How long will it take?
Why Should You Trust the Lanier Law Firm to Handle your Mesothelioma Case?
Companies That Exposed Their Employees To Asbestos in Pennsylvania
Below is a comprehensive list of employers, including mines, shipyards, private employers, and military bases known for using asbestos. You may have a legal claim if you worked for any of the following companies in Pennsylvania and have received a recent mesothelioma diagnosis:
- American Steel
- American Bridge Company
- American Sheet & Tin Plate Company
- Berwind White Coal Mining
- Armstrong Contracting & Supply
- Babcock & Wilcox
- Carnegie Steel Corp
- Colonial Steel Company
- Crucible Steel Company of America
- Edison Electric Illumination
- H.C. Frick Coke Company
- Keystone Coal and Coke Company
- Leigh Valley Coal Company
- Koppers Company, Inc.
- West Penn Power Company
- U.S. Steel in Dravosburg, Homestead, Monroeville, Duquesne, Rankin, Fairless Hills, Clairton, Pittsburgh, Braddock, Fairbanks, Irvin Works, McKeesport, McKees Rocks, Rankin, Johnstown,
- Morrisville, and Ravosburg.
- Bethlehem Steel
- General Electric
- Harbison Walker
- Chrysler
- Olmstead Air Force Base
- Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
- Philadelphia Naval Base
- IBM in Pittsburgh & Philadelphia
- Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock
- Combustion Engineering
- Boeing Company
- Jones & Laughlin Steel
- Philadelphia Electric Company
- Philadelphia Gas Works
- Pennsylvania Power & Light
- Pennsylvania Railroad
- Pittsburgh Steel
- Sun Oil Company
- A.C. & S
- Aliquippa Works
- Allied Chemical
- Allegheny County Steam Heating Co.
- Armco
- Duquesne Light Company
- Koppers Company, Inc
- U.S. Bureau of Mines
- Westinghouse Electric Corp
- Edgewater Steel Company
- Pittsburgh Plate Glass
- A.P. Green
- LTV Steel
- Armstrong Cork Company
- National Tube Company
- Keasbey and Mattison Company
- CertainTeed
- Nicolet Industries
Environmental Asbestos in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania is home to four former asbestos mines and 37 naturally-occurring asbestos deposits in the following counties:
- Adams
- Berks
- Bucks
- Chester
- Delaware
- Lancaster
- Lebanon
- Montgomery
- Northampton
- Philadelphia
Naturally occurring asbestos can become airborne through erosion, excavation, or other forces disturbing soil or rock containing it. However, not all environmental asbestos in Pennsylvania naturally occurs. Two sites in Pennsylvania have been significantly contaminated by asbestos companies’ improper disposal of waste products.
Valley Forge National Historic Park
From 1877 until 1968, a manufacturing company disposed of asbestos-tainted waste in quarries near a water channel leading to the Schuylkill River. The National Park Service discovered the contamination in 1997 and then collaborated with other government agencies to remove asbestos from the soil.
The National Park Service eventually acquired the contaminated area. Today, the tainted area is in the center of Valley Forge National Historic Park. The EPA awarded the National Park Service the Federal Facility Excellence in Site Reuse Award for its cooperation and innovation in restoring the area.
Ambler Asbestos Piles
The Ambler Asbestos Piles were a 25-acre mountain containing 1.5 million cubic yards of asbestos waste dumped by a nearby steam pipe insulation plant from 1930 until the 1970s. In 1986, the Ambler Asbestos Piles became an EPA superfund site.
The EPA completed remediation of the site in 1993. Meanwhile, plant owner Nicolet Industries faced 50,000 asbestos exposure lawsuits and filed for bankruptcy in 1987.
Compensation for Mesothelioma in Pennsylvania
You may be eligible for financial compensation for mesothelioma through multiple avenues.
You can file a mesothelioma lawsuit against the companies that manufactured or supplied asbestos to your employer. Recoverable damages in a mesothelioma lawsuit include compensation for your medical expenses, lost wages, pain, suffering, and other emotional and financial losses. If your loved one died of mesothelioma, you may be eligible for additional damages through a wrongful death lawsuit.
If the companies responsible for you or your loved one’s asbestos exposure filed for bankruptcy protection, you may be able to recover damages through asbestos trust funds.
If you were diagnosed with mesothelioma while you were still working, you may qualify for workers’ compensation for mesothelioma. In Pennsylvania, workers’ compensation provides medical care and up to two-thirds of your average weekly wage in wage replacement benefits.
If you were exposed to asbestos while serving in the military, you may be eligible to file a VA claim for mesothelioma compensation. The VA provides free medical care and monthly disability compensation to veterans with service-connected mesothelioma.
Asbestos Laws and Regulations in Pennsylvania
The statute of limitations for mesothelioma claims in Pennsylvania is generally two years from the date you were diagnosed. You also have two years from a loved one’s death from mesothelioma to file a wrongful death claim. However, it is important to contact a knowledgeable mesothelioma attorney in Pennsylvania as soon as possible. The statute of limitations is complex, and if you miss the deadline, you could lose out on compensation.
Pennsylvania laws allow mesothelioma victims to seek punitive damages in a lawsuit, but courts will only award them in circumstances where the defendant acted with evil intent or severe negligence. In addition, Punitive damages cannot be awarded without compensatory damages and are capped at twice the value of any compensatory award you receive. Our experienced Pennsylvania mesothelioma lawyers can help you determine whether you’re eligible for punitive damages.
Contact The Lanier Law Firm
If you or your loved one has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, the companies that exposed you to asbestos should be the ones who bear the financial burden. Our compassionate and skilled Pennsylvania mesothelioma lawyers are ready to fight for the compensation you deserve.
Contact us online to schedule a free case evaluation
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