SAN FRANCISCO -- The law firm of Baron & Budd, P.C., is announcing a substantial settlement in an asbestos exposure lawsuit filed on behalf of an 81-year-old man who worked in the San Francisco area. The settlement was reached a day before the jury would have determined the fate of the defendants, all asbestos joint compound companies.

Attorneys John Langdoc and Eric Brown from Baron & Budd represented the plaintiff. The final settlement was reached after two weeks of trial in Judge Thomas Mellon's courtroom in San Francisco.

The defendants in this trial were: Bondex, Kaiser-Gypsum, Hamilton Materials, and Kelly Moore.

"Eric, John and our entire trial team worked incredibly hard to find and interview witnesses; obtain access to internal corporate files which showed these companies knew their products could cause cancer and chose to keep selling them; and trace our client’s Lujan's career working in the construction of over 100 buildings around these products. In the end the investigation uncovered that our client had been exposed to asbestos, a known carcinogen, in the form of joint compound, for over 15 years while working in the construction industry," says Russell W. Budd, managing partner of Baron & Budd.

In addition to uncovering that the plaintiff had been exposed to asbestos from these companies' joint compounds, the Baron & Budd trial team also presented evidence that the companies were told by the U.S. government that working for only four days around joint compounds would result in an unreasonable risk of cancer to workers, and that it has been known for decades that there is no safe level of exposure to asbestos.

Just months before he was diagnosed with mesothelioma, his doctors noted that the plaintiff was in excellent health. When his doctors informed him that his mesothelioma was caused by asbestos, he initially had no idea that his work as a carpenter and construction worker had exposed him to dangerous materials.

"Our client’s family is appreciative of all the hard work put in by the Baron & Budd team to uncover what products were responsible for his asbestos cancer," says John Langdoc.

The effects of asbestos exposure, including the onset of diseases like mesothelioma and other asbestos cancers, can take decades to surface. Nearly forty years passed before the plaintiff began exhibiting symptoms of mesothelioma. He is currently fighting the cancer from his home in the San Francisco area.