Providing Results for Clients
Work with Shrader & Associates
At Shrader & Associates L.L.P., we are dedicated to providing successful results for our clients. When your life has been compromised, someone has to be held accountable. We’re here to make sure that happens. You and your family deserve better, and though a lawsuit may not be the most prominent thing on your mind, enlisting the aid of a qualified attorney can help your family and prevent the same thing from happening to someone else.
In a recent commercial litigation case, our team successfully obtained a judgment of over $120,000,000 for defrauded Texas investors.
In a recent commercial litigation case, our team successfully obtained a judgment of over $120,000,000 for defrauded Texas investors.
Delores Tipp, et al. v. The Dow Chemical Company, et al.: Wrongful death suit brought on behalf of the family of a 67 year old man who had died from mesothelioma. He was exposed to asbestos while working as a contractor at a Dow facility.
Cause No. A5666869: Lewis, et al. v. Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, LP
District Court, Clark County Nevada, Dept. 27, Honorable Nancy Allf
Rick Lewis worked as a gasoline tanker-truck driver in California and Nevada starting in 1995. From 2002-2008, he loaded gasoline at the Kinder Morgan terminal in Las Vegas between 1-7 times per day and delivered the fuel to various retail outlets. Gasoline contains up to 3% benzene. Kinder Morgan operates various pipelines and approximately 180 bulk terminals nationwide. Plaintiffs alleged that Mr. Lewis’s repeated exposures to benzene in gasoline at the Kinder Morgan terminal caused him to develop Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS).
Plaintiffs’ legal theories against Kinder Morgan were based on negligence/premises liability, negligence/failure to warn, and strict products liability. The jury found that Kinder Morgan was negligent and also liable as a distributor.
Plaintiffs argued that Rick Lewis’s DNA showed specific chromosomal damage linked in the scientific literature with exposure to benzene. Plaintiffs argued that Kinder Morgan failed to monitor its premises for benzene exposure and disregarded normal industrial hygiene practices, and failed to provide warnings to Mr. Lewis or other invitees of the dangers of benzene exposure from gasoline through normal bulk loading operations at its terminal.
Kinder Morgan argued that gasoline is not a carcinogen, and asserted that benzene exposures were not a hazard at its Las Vegas terminal, or other locations. Kinder Morgan also claimed that it was not a ‘distributor’ of benzene-containing gasoline, but a storage facility instead. Kinder Morgan also argued that the cause of Mr. Lewis’s MDS was unknown.
Other Information
Prior to trial, confidential settlements were reached between Plaintiffs and several gasoline refiners. Kinder Morgan’s offer prior to trial was $20,000.
Counsel
Plaintiffs are represented by Justin Shrader, Keith Patton, and Robert Shuttlesworth of Shrader & Associates, LLP in Houston.
Kenneth Kramer v. Amcord Inc.: A freelance worker who developed mesothelioma after being exposed to various construction materials containing asbestos has won a $6.8 million verdict against Amcord Inc., the manufacturer of the products primarily responsible for his disease.
Joyce Stockton and Ronnie Stockton v. Ford Motor Company: Products liability suit brought by the wife of a brake mechanic that contracted mesothelioma from the asbestos in automotive friction materials (brakes and clutches). Ford was found 71% responsible for Plaintiffs’ injuries and grossly negligent in failing to warn about the asbestos in its products.
Dahlin v. Lyondell Chemical Company, et al.: Wrongful death suit brought on behalf of the family of a 55-year-old man from Myelodysplastic Syndrome/Leukemia. He was exposed to benzene while transporting chemicals.
Our client, a 53-year-old man, was exposed to asbestos while working at various power plants and refineries as a boilermaker. This case settled during trial for a confidential multi-million dollar settlement.
We represented a diabetes-focused medical care and services provider in a commercial litigation case involving allegations of breach of contract and fraud. The case involved an alleged wrongdoing in the processing and submission of billings for patient services for insurance companies. The case was disposed of by mutual agreement.
Our client, in his 30’s, suffered from Acute Leukemia after exposure to benzene for 6 years while working as a gasoline distribution worker in Arizona.
Shrader & Associates L.L.P. represented a 37-year-old man in Indiana with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia who experienced environmental exposure from living near a coal plant/coke refinery.
Shrader & Associates, L.L.P. represented a 79-year-old man that was exposed to asbestos while working as a machine attendant at various jobsites throughout Tennessee.
When an 85-year-old man was previously exposed to asbestos while working at the Rohm and Hass plant in Bristol, Pennsylvania, Shrader & Associates, LLP represented him.
Shrader & Associates, L.L.P. represented an 82-year-old man that was exposed to asbestos while working as a laborer at a cement plant in California.
Shrader & Associates, L.L.P. represented a 65-year-old man that was exposed to asbestos while working as a welder at various plants and refineries in Arizona and Florida.
While working as a janitor at various schools in Wisconsin, our client was exposed to asbestos-containing products. He was diagnosed with mesothelioma at the age of 82.
Rick Luzaich, 62, insurance salesman whose first job was in a machine shop
Rick and Jennifer Luzaich in a happy moment. Rick, 62, was diagnosed last year with mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer triggered by asbestos exposure. Courtesy of Jennifer Luzaich.
Rick Luzaich took the job out of high school — two years grinding parts in a Minnesota machine shop. A career in business management and other white-collar jobs followed, his days as a grinder fading into the distance.
What he didn’t know then or for many years afterward was just what he’d inhaled during that short stint doing blue-collar work.
He was in his late 50s, living outside Minneapolis when he began feeling short-winded and ill. Heart trouble, doctors thought at first. Last year, he and his wife Jennifer found out what really ailed him: mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer triggered by exposure to asbestos.
Asbestos is a mineral that can be processed into heat-resistant fluffy fibers, an excellent insulator but hazardous to health. Companies put asbestos into all sorts of products for decades, in some cases before and in other cases after they knew the risks involved. Items ranged from widely-installed insulation to firefighters’ protective gear. Also on the list: grinding wheels.
Rick, now 62, said he beat out hundreds of candidates for that grinding job and was thrilled by the good pay.
“Little did I know that the whole time I was working there, I was killing myself,” he said.
Mesothelioma, one of several diseases asbestos can set in motion, is a cancer that takes its time. Decades can pass before symptoms appear.
Construction workers and people employed at shipyards, chemical plants and refineries have been among the worst hit in the U.S., according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, known as NIOSH. The federal government put some limits on asbestos usage in the 1970s, but the substance is not fully banned.
More than 26,000 people died of malignant mesothelioma between 2001 and 2010, according to NIOSH’s most recent tally. Annual deaths rose from 2,500 to 2,700 during that period.
Robert E. Shuttlesworth, a Houston lawyer who helped represent the Luzaichs in lawsuits against manufacturers, usually sees clients in their 60s and 70s who were exposed 40 or more years ago. Some, however, are younger. Many worked in industrial settings; others were exposed when their spouses or parents brought the often-invisible fibers home on their clothes, or when companies near them disposed of asbestos improperly.
“There’s places in Texas where they closed down the plant, they just bulldozed it, and you get these mounds of asbestos, … nothing but an asbestos hill,” Shuttlesworth said.
In cases of mesothelioma, asbestos fibers have usually damaged cells in the lining around the lungs.
“Imagine your lungs being coated in cement and not being able to be used. That’s what I have,” Rick Luzaich said. “It’s the left lung. Now, lately, just lately, it’s spread to the right lung. … Feels like you’re trying to run up the stairs breathing through a straw. That’s the feeling. And all the time — not just sometime, all the time.”
He and Jennifer, 48, married in 2007 and were an active couple, boating and exercising. That’s out of the question now. So is paid employment — dealing with mesothelioma is a full-time job for them both. Rick stopped selling insurance last year as pain and fatigue overcame him. After he endured four rounds of chemotherapy she feared would kill him, Jennifer left her job, too.
They’ve pieced some financial help together like a patchwork quilt. Rick now gets federal disability payments. The lawsuits against several manufacturers of products with asbestos were “resolved,” said another of their lawyers, Ross Stomel. And friends organized a fundraiser last year. But big, uncovered medical expenses paired with the regular costs of everyday life have left their finances in “horrible” shape, Jennifer said.
She tries to keep her spirits up. She cares for Rick. She raises her children, ages 11 and 12. She researches clinical trials and helped him enroll in two, a way to hold onto hope.
Over it, all hangs a terrible question.
“Every day you wake up and wonder, how long is he going to have?” she said.
Our team reached a confidential settlement on behalf of a former collegiate football player against his University for damages resulting from multiple concussions and repetitive head-trauma sustained during his collegiate playing career.
Our attorneys represented the family of a 30+ year refinery worker who died of Myelodysplastic Syndrome as a result of exposure to benzene in Texas.
Shrader & Associates, L.L.P. represented the family of a man in Ohio who died from Myelodysplastic Syndrome and worked his entire career as a rubber worker and tire builder.
Our firm represented a 20+ year printer in Missouri who was exposed to benzene in printing chemicals and suffered from Myelodysplastic Syndrome.
An 81-year-old man was exposed to asbestos while he worked as a plumber at a number of commercial facilities throughout Texas. This case settled during trial for a confidential multi-million dollar settlement.
In a case involving toxic benzene exposure, our firm represented the tank cleaner who was diagnosed with cancer due to exposure to dangerous materials at multiple East Texas refineries. Due to our successful legal strategies, we reached a confidential settlement in favor of our injured client.
Our team of skilled attorneys represented the family of an elderly woman who was murdered at an independent and senior living facility in Dallas, Texas. The case was disposed of by mutual agreement.
At the age of 85, our client was diagnosed with mesothelioma. He worked as an electrician at various power plants and refineries in Ohio.
After working as an electrician at various power plants and refineries in Ohio, our client was diagnosed with mesothelioma at the age of 85. This case had a mesothelioma settlement during trial for a confidential multi-million dollar settlement.
Shrader & Associates, L.L.P. represented a 92-year-old man, diagnosed with mesothelioma, who was exposed to asbestos while working as a fireman in Massachusetts.
For most of her life, our client lived approximately a mile upwind from an asbestos-cement plant in Kansas. She was 88 years old when she was diagnosed with mesothelioma.
Shrader & Associates, L.L.P. represented a 66-year-old maintenance mechanic who was exposed to asbestos during the 1960s and 1970s. He worked at various facilities throughout Texas. During retirement, he was diagnosed with mesothelioma.
Brought on behalf of the family of a 67-year-old mesothelioma victim who had asbestos exposure while working at a Dow facility. This wrongful death lawsuit settled during trial for a confidential multi-million dollar settlement.
As a laborer at various Illinois foundries, our client was exposed to asbestos in the 1940s and 1950s and was subsequently diagnosed with mesothelioma. This case settled during trial for a confidential multi-million dollar settlement.
Shrader & Associates, LLP represented an 81-year-old man who was diagnosed with mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos as a pipefitter for the Pennsylvania Bureau of Media. This case settled during trial for a confidential multi-million dollar settlement.