Florida Mesothelioma Lawyer: Asbestos Claims, Deadlines & Compensation

If your family is facing a mesothelioma diagnosis in Florida, several claim paths may be open at once: lawsuits against the manufacturers and suppliers of the asbestos products your loved one worked around, claims against the premises owners and site operators that allowed exposure to occur, claims against the asbestos trusts set up by companies that filed for bankruptcy, and federal benefits through the VA, federal workers' compensation, or Social Security disability.

Florida gives a diagnosed worker two or four years to file, depending on the kind of claim: two years for negligence claims (including claims against property owners) and four years for claims against the makers and sellers of defective products. Exactly when the clock starts varies, so to be safe, count two years from the date of diagnosis. After a death, the family has two years from the date of death, but only if the worker's own deadline had not already run out. Florida also has a twelve-year cutoff for product claims, but it does not apply when the worker was exposed during that window and the disease showed up later, which is how mesothelioma works.

You do not need to know the name of the asbestos product before you call. Many strong cases begin with one sentence: "Dad worked at the mill in Jacksonville," or "Granddad served at NAS Pensacola." We build the exposure history from there.

Was the exposure at a Florida paper mill, power plant, chemical plant, or military base?

Florida's industrial history runs through pine-pulp and paper mills along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, power stations up both coasts, chemical and phosphate plants, shipyards in Jacksonville, and a large network of Navy, Air Force, and NASA installations. The asbestos trusts' lists hold more than 2,000 Florida entries across 266 communities, from 27 asbestos trusts. One plant can appear many times, under different names or on different trusts' lists. Johns-Manville keeps no site list of its own, so it is counted at every site the other trusts list. More than a hundred of our clients worked at Florida job sites. The worksites the most trusts list:

Florida worksite	City	Why it matters
St. Regis Paper mill (Florida Pulp & Paper, Champion)	Cantonment	Kraft mill north of Pensacola. At least 15 trusts, including Johns-Manville.
Buckeye Cellulose mill (Procter & Gamble)	Foley (Perry)	Chemical cellulose mill; listed under both Foley and Perry, one facility. At least 13 trusts, including Johns-Manville.
St. Regis Paper mill	Jacksonville	Paper mill on the St. Johns River. At least 12 trusts, including Johns-Manville.
Monsanto nylon plant (Chemstrand)	Pensacola	Nylon plant on the Escambia River. At least 12 trusts, including Johns-Manville.
St. Joe Paper Company mill	Port St. Joe	Kraft mill on St. Joseph Bay. At least 12 trusts, including Johns-Manville.
Container Corporation of America mill (Jefferson Smurfit)	Fernandina Beach	Linerboard mill on Amelia Island. At least 11 trusts, including Johns-Manville.
Florida Power & Light Riviera plant	Riviera Beach	Steam station on the Lake Worth Lagoon. At least 11 trusts, including Johns-Manville.
Hudson Pulp & Paper mill (Georgia-Pacific)	Palatka	Paper mill on the St. Johns River. At least 10 trusts, including Johns-Manville.
International Paper mill (Southern Kraft Division)	Panama City	Kraft mill on St. Andrews Bay. At least 10 trusts, including Johns-Manville.
Naval Air Station Pensacola	Pensacola	The Navy's first air station (1914). At least 9 trusts, including Johns-Manville.
National Container	Jacksonville	Packaging mill. At least 7 trusts, including Johns-Manville.
Kennedy Space Center	Merritt Island	NASA launch complex. At least 7 trusts, including Johns-Manville.
Eglin Air Force Base	Eglin AFB	Air Force base in the Panhandle. At least 6 trusts, including Johns-Manville.

Check Florida asbestos exposure sites or search the trusts' Florida lists.

Not seeing the worksite? That does not mean your family has no claim. Many Florida claims are built from product-handling reconstruction, coworker information, historical invoices, trust documents, and records from similar worksites.

Your legal options after a Florida mesothelioma diagnosis

Think in claim paths, not in one lawsuit. Which paths fit, and in what order, depends on the family's facts; we decide that case by case with our trial teams.

Asbestos trust claims

Dozens of asbestos product manufacturers filed for bankruptcy and set up trusts to pay current and future victims. Trust claims do not require a lawsuit or a court appearance. Each trust has its own rules and proof requirements. If a Florida lawsuit is filed, the family must report to the court payments received from settlements of the same claim, which can include trust payments. Learn more about asbestos trust claims.

Product liability lawsuits

Many of the companies that made asbestos products are still in business. Florida allows claims against them for defective products and failure to warn. Each company's product must be shown to have contributed substantially to the disease, even when many products together made up the cumulative dose. Learn more about product liability lawsuits.

Premises liability lawsuits

The owners of mills, power plants, and chemical plants where outside contractors worked may also be responsible, but Florida limits these claims. A plant owner generally is not liable to an outside contractor's employees for the hazards of the work they were hired to do, unless the owner controlled the work or knew of a danger the contractor did not. Federal installations such as Navy and Air Force bases are not sued as property owners. Learn more about premises liability lawsuits.

Workers' compensation, LHWCA, FECA, VA, and Social Security

A worker's claim against their own employer usually runs through workers' compensation, which has its own short notice and filing deadlines. Florida workers' compensation does not protect product manufacturers, so the claims against them stay open. Shipyard and ship-repair workers in Jacksonville and Tampa are often covered instead by the federal Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA), which has its own rules: a settlement with a manufacturer for less than the compensation due needs the employer's and insurer's written approval first, and a worker who accepts compensation under an award must sue within six months or the claim passes to the employer. Veterans with a described in-service exposure may qualify for VA disability. Federal civilian employees are covered by federal workers' compensation (FECA), which is their only remedy against the United States. Social Security disability is available only to workers under full retirement age. These benefits interact with a lawsuit in different ways, so we coordinate them case by case. Learn more about asbestos disability claims.

"Can we choose not to sue?"

Yes. Some Florida families pursue only trust claims and disability or VA benefits, and never file a court case. We respect that decision and will not pressure you into a court case you do not want.

Uncomfortable with the idea of a lawsuit? So was Clarence Borel. He spent 33 years as an insulator on the Gulf Coast and didn't believe in suing anyone — until he realized his coworkers would die the same way he was dying. His 1969 lawsuit helped establish the product-liability law that protects families today, and the cases that followed it eventually led to the bankruptcy trusts that pay claims now. Read his story.

How long do I have to file a Florida mesothelioma claim?

Florida gives a diagnosed worker two or four years, depending on the kind of claim:

• Two years for negligence claims, including claims against property owners. A 2023 law (HB 837) cut this period from four years to two for claims that arise after March 24, 2023. A mesothelioma diagnosed after that date is covered by the two-year rule, even if the exposure happened decades earlier.
• Four years for many claims against the makers and sellers of defective products. The four-year period covers products that were not permanently built into a building or plant, so some installed products may fall under a shorter period.

Florida's asbestos statute starts the clock when the worker discovers, or reasonably should have discovered, that they are impaired by an asbestos-related disease. Exactly when the clock starts varies, so to be safe, count two years from the date of diagnosis.

After a death. The family has two years from the date of death to bring a wrongful-death claim. But in Florida the death claim depends on the worker's own claim: if the worker's deadline ran out before death, or the worker's own case was decided or settled during life, the death claim can be lost. If your loved one has been diagnosed, call now rather than waiting.

The twelve-year product cutoff. Florida bars most product claims for harm from exposure more than twelve years after the product was delivered to its first buyer. That cutoff does not apply when the worker was exposed within the twelve years and the disease showed up later, which is how mesothelioma works.

Call 833-4-ASBESTOS for a free Florida case review.

Legal detail: Florida filing deadlines

Asbestos accrual. Fla. Stat. § 774.206(1): "Notwithstanding any other law, with respect to any asbestos ... claim not barred as of the effective date of this act, the limitations period does not begin to run until the exposed person discovers, or through the exercise of reasonable diligence should have discovered, that he or she is physically impaired by an asbestos-related ... condition." Product claims also run from discovery under § 95.031(2)(b). The clock can start before a formal diagnosis if the worker knew or should have known of the injury and its probable cause (Carter v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., 778 So. 2d 932 (Fla. 2000)).

Periods. Negligence: two years, § 95.11(5)(a). Injury "founded on the design, manufacture, distribution, or sale of personal property that is not permanently incorporated in an improvement to real property": four years, § 95.11(3)(d). Wrongful death: two years, § 95.11(5)(e). The two-year negligence period applies to causes of action accruing after March 24, 2023 (ch. 2023-15, § 28, Laws of Fla.).

Two-disease rule. A claim for a nonmalignant asbestos condition is a separate cause of action from a later asbestos cancer, and a settlement of a nonmalignant claim cannot require release of a future cancer claim. § 774.206(2)–(3).

Wrongful death depends on the worker's claim. § 768.19 allows a death action only where "the event would have entitled the person injured to maintain an action and recover damages if death had not ensued." A judgment for the worker during life bars a later death action (Variety Children's Hosp. v. Perkins, 445 So. 2d 1010 (Fla. 1983)), and so does the running of the worker's own limitations period before death (Hudson v. Keene Corp., 445 So. 2d 1151 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984), approved, 472 So. 2d 1142 (Fla. 1985), an asbestos case; Toombs v. Alamo Rent-A-Car, Inc., 833 So. 2d 109 (Fla. 2002)).

Statute of repose. § 95.031(2)(b): twelve years from delivery to the first purchaser for products with an expected useful life of ten years or less (real-property improvements and certain vessels and aircraft are treated differently). § 95.031(2)(c): the repose "does not apply if the claimant was exposed to or used the product within the repose period, but an injury caused by such exposure or use did not manifest itself until after expiration of the repose period." § 95.031(2)(d) tolls it while a manufacturer knowingly concealed the defect.

Florida's asbestos law: what it requires

Florida has a statute written for asbestos cases, the Asbestos and Silica Compensation Fairness Act (Florida Statutes chapter 774). For a family facing mesothelioma, the main points are:

• Mesothelioma cases go forward on the diagnosis. Claims for nonmalignant asbestos disease, and some cancers, must first meet medical criteria; mesothelioma is excused from that showing.
• Paperwork with the complaint. The lawsuit must include a sworn form listing each place and period of exposure and the employer at the time, and a report of any trust or settlement payments, updated as the case goes on.
• No punitive damages. Florida law does not allow punitive damages in asbestos cases (Fla. Stat. § 774.207).
• Where to file. A Florida asbestos case may be brought if the worker lives in Florida or was exposed in Florida.
• Who can be sued. Distributors and sellers that did not make the product are liable only for their own lack of care, their own warranty, or intentional wrongdoing. Companies that merged with an asbestos company before 1972 may have limited liability.

Legal detail: Chapter 774

Physical impairment. § 774.204(1) makes physical impairment an essential element of an asbestos claim. Nonmalignant claims need a prima facie showing (§ 774.204(2): detailed exposure and medical history, ten-year latency, AMA Class 2 impairment, asbestosis or diffuse pleural thickening by B-read or pathology); lung, laryngeal, pharyngeal, and esophageal cancer claims by smokers, and colon, rectal, and stomach cancer claims, need the showings in § 774.204(3) and (5). § 774.204(6): "In a civil action alleging an asbestos claim based upon mesothelioma a prima facie showing of an impairment due to asbestos exposure is not required."

Filing. § 774.205(1): an asbestos action may be brought in Florida "if the plaintiff is domiciled in this state or the exposure to asbestos ... that is a substantial contributing factor to the physical impairment of the plaintiff on which the claim is based occurred in this state." § 774.205(2)–(3): the complaint includes the medical report and a sworn information form (each exposure location, dates by product, occupation and employer, and the condition claimed); a claim lacking the required showing is dismissed without prejudice.

Damages. § 774.207(1): "Punitive damages may not be awarded in any civil action alleging an asbestos or silica claim." § 774.206(2): no damages for fear or risk of cancer. § 774.207(2): at filing, a verified report of collateral-source payments received or to be received from settlements or judgments on the same claim, updated during the case; the court permits setoff under Florida law. The act's "asbestos claim" includes wrongful-death, consortium, and other derivative claims (§ 774.203(3)).

Sellers and successors. § 774.208: a product seller other than a manufacturer is liable only for its own failure of reasonable care, its own express warranty, or its intentional wrongdoing. §§ 774.003–.004: a corporation that became a successor before January 1, 1972 has successor asbestos liability limited to the transferor's asset value, with exceptions.

Other. The act doesn't affect workers' compensation or veterans' benefits, the exclusive-remedy and subrogation rules, or claims against bankruptcy trusts (§ 774.209). Its impairment requirement cannot be applied to claims that had accrued before it took effect (American Optical Corp. v. Spiewak, 73 So. 3d 120 (Fla. 2011)).

Who can be sued in a Florida asbestos case?

A Florida asbestos case is rarely about a single defendant. The same worker often handled products from a dozen manufacturers over a long career.

Product manufacturers and suppliers

The companies that made asbestos insulation, gaskets, packing, refractory, joint compound, floor tile, roofing, and friction products. Florida recognizes strict liability for defective products, negligence, and breach of warranty. Distributors that did not make the product are liable only on narrower grounds.

Plant owners

The owners of mills, power plants, and chemical plants where outside contractors worked. Florida generally does not hold a plant owner liable to a contractor's employees for the hazards of the work they were hired to do. A claim may exist where the owner controlled the work or knew of a danger that the contractor and its workers did not.

Asbestos bankruptcy trusts

When an asbestos manufacturer files for bankruptcy, it typically sets up a trust to pay current and future victims. Trust claims do not require a lawsuit. In a Florida lawsuit, settlement payments on the same claim, which can include trust payments, must be reported to the court, and defendants may ask the jury to assign a share of fault to bankrupt companies.

Employers

Florida workers' compensation is generally the only remedy against the worker's own employer. That protection does not extend to product manufacturers. It can extend to a general contractor whose subcontractor employed the worker. A suit against an employer is possible only in narrow cases of deliberate or concealed danger.

Legal detail: Florida product liability, premises liability, and workers' compensation

Strict products liability. Florida follows Restatement (Second) of Torts § 402A and the consumer-expectations test for design defect, and does not require proof of a reasonable alternative design (Aubin v. Union Carbide Corp., 177 So. 3d 489 (Fla. 2015), a peritoneal mesothelioma case). In design-defect cases the jury considers the state of the art at the time of manufacture (§ 768.1257); compliance with mandatory government standards creates a rebuttable presumption against defect (§ 768.1256). Non-manufacturer sellers: § 774.208.

Negligence. Duty under the foreseeable zone-of-risk test (McCain v. Florida Power Corp., 593 So. 2d 500 (Fla. 1992)). An OSHA violation is evidence of negligence, not negligence per se (Fla. Std. Jury Instr. (Civ.) 401.9 note, citing Jupiter Inlet Corp. v. Brocard, 546 So. 2d 1 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988)).

Premises liability. One who hires an independent contractor is generally not liable for injuries to the contractor's employees in performing their work; liability may attach where the owner controlled the work, created or approved the danger, or knew of latent dangers unknown to the contractor (Johnson v. Boca Raton Cmty. Hosp., Inc., 985 So. 2d 593 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008), affirming summary judgment for hospitals against a contractor's asbestos insulator).

Workers' compensation. Exclusive remedy, § 440.11(1). A contractor that sublets work is liable for comp to the subcontractor's employees (§ 440.10(1)(b)) and shares the immunity. Intentional-tort exception, § 440.11(1)(b): clear and convincing evidence that the employer deliberately intended to injure, or knew from prior similar accidents or explicit warnings that its conduct was virtually certain to cause injury or death, where the danger was not apparent and the employer deliberately concealed or misrepresented it. Occupational disease is covered, § 440.151; causation and exposure must be proved by clear and convincing evidence, and a death claim requires death within 350 weeks after last exposure (§ 440.151(1)(a)). Notice to the employer within 90 days for an occupational disease (§ 440.151(6), extending § 440.185(1)); petition within two years after the employee knew or should have known the disease arose from work (§ 440.19(1)).

Comp lien and the employer's right to sue. § 440.39: the employer or carrier has a lien on a third-party recovery for benefits paid or payable. If the employee does not sue the third party within one year after the cause of action accrued, the employer or carrier may sue after 30 days' notice; the right reverts to the employee if it does not sue within two years. Settlements in those cases need the agreement of the employee and the employer or carrier.

LHWCA. The employer's LHWCA liability is exclusive of its other liability to the worker and family (33 U.S.C. § 905(a)). Under § 933: accepting compensation under an award operates as an assignment of the worker's claim to the employer unless the worker sues within six months (§ 933(b)); the employer is credited with the net recovery (§ 933(f)); and a settlement for less than the compensation due, made without the employer's and carrier's prior written approval, terminates all compensation and medical benefits (§ 933(g)).

Economic loss rule. Limited to products cases (Tiara Condo. Ass'n v. Marsh & McLennan Cos., 110 So. 3d 399 (Fla. 2013)); it does not bar personal-injury claims.

What compensation can a Florida mesothelioma case recover?

Personal-injury compensation

A Florida personal-injury case for mesothelioma may seek:

• Past and future medical expenses. For cases filed after March 24, 2023, past medical expenses are limited to what was actually paid and what is still owed, and future medical expenses may be supported by insurance or Medicare-based rates as well as reasonable billed amounts.
• Past and future lost income and earning capacity
• Pain, suffering, mental anguish, and loss of enjoyment of life
• Loss of consortium for the spouse

Florida law does not allow punitive damages in asbestos cases. Florida has no general cap on pain-and-suffering damages in personal-injury cases. A court award can be reduced by some benefits the family received, such as Social Security disability, unless the payer has a right to be repaid.

Wrongful-death compensation

If your loved one has already passed, the personal representative of the estate brings one action for the estate and the survivors (spouse, children, parents, and relatives who depended on the worker). The estate may recover lost earnings from injury to death, lost savings the worker would have left, and medical and funeral expenses the estate paid. The surviving spouse may recover for loss of companionship and for mental pain and suffering. Children under 25 may recover for lost companionship, guidance, and mental pain and suffering; children 25 and older may recover these only if there is no surviving spouse.

Legal detail: Florida damages and wrongful death

Punitive damages. Barred in asbestos actions: § 774.207(1).

Medical expenses (2023). § 768.0427: past paid medical limited to amounts actually paid; unpaid and future medical proved by the claimant's coverage rates or, for claimants without coverage or on Medicare or Medicaid, 120% of the Medicare rate (170% of the Medicaid rate where no Medicare rate exists); recovery capped at paid plus owed plus future. It applies to causes of action filed after March 24, 2023 (ch. 2023-15, § 30).

Collateral sources. § 768.76 reduces an award by collateral-source payments, including Social Security Act benefits other than Medicare and Medicaid, except where a subrogation or reimbursement right exists. Asbestos plaintiffs must also report settlement and judgment payments (§ 774.207(2)).

Wrongful Death Act. §§ 768.16–.26. Survivors: § 768.18(1). "Minor children" means children under 25 (§ 768.18(2)). Damages: § 768.21 (spouse: companionship, protection, mental pain and suffering; minor children, and all children if there is no surviving spouse: companionship, instruction, guidance, mental pain and suffering; estate: lost earnings, net accumulations, medical and funeral expenses). § 768.20: "When a personal injury to the decedent results in death, no action for the personal injury shall survive, and any such action pending at the time of death shall abate"; the personal representative brings the death action.

What evidence do we need to prove a Florida asbestos case?

You do not need to gather everything before calling. Most families call with a diagnosis and a basic work history, and we build the rest.

Evidence	Why it helps	What if you do not have it?
Pathology report confirming mesothelioma	Establishes the diagnosis	We can request it directly from the hospital with your authorization
Work history — employers, dates, job titles	Identifies which products and worksites your loved one was exposed to	A spouse, sibling, or adult child can reconstruct it from memory; we fill gaps with Social Security earnings records
Military service records (DD-214)	Opens VA service-connected disability and Navy/Air Force/Space Force exposure pathways	We request from the National Personnel Records Center
Names of coworkers	Coworker testimony confirms specific products at specific sites	Often unnecessary — our database links worksites to products independently
Old pay stubs, union records, or W-2s	Confirm employment dates and union affiliation	Social Security records and union pension records reconstruct most of this
Product names or brands	Helps target manufacturers and trusts directly	Our database links Florida worksites to product manufacturers — most families do not know product names

Most Florida cases are built from a diagnosis, a worksite, and a career arc. Call us with what you have.

How does Florida divide responsibility when many asbestos companies were involved?

Florida divides fault by percentage. The jury assigns a share of fault to each company that contributed to the disease, and each company pays only its own share. Defendants may also ask the jury to assign fault to companies that are not in the case, including bankrupt asbestos manufacturers, if they prove it.

The worker's own fault, if any, reduces the recovery by the same percentage. For cases filed after March 24, 2023, a worker found more than 50% at fault for their own harm recovers nothing. Continuing to work around asbestos is not by itself a complete bar; it is weighed as part of comparative fault.

Legal detail: comparative fault, joint and several liability, and settlement credits

Comparative fault. Florida adopted pure comparative negligence in Hoffman v. Jones, 280 So. 2d 431 (Fla. 1973); implied assumption of risk merged into it in Blackburn v. Dorta, 348 So. 2d 287 (Fla. 1977). § 768.81(6) (ch. 2023-15, § 9): "any party found to be greater than 50 percent at fault for his or her own harm may not recover any damages," except in medical-negligence cases. It applies to causes of action filed after March 24, 2023 (ch. 2023-15, § 30) and to strict-liability and products-liability claims, which are "negligence actions" under § 768.81(1)(c).

Causation. Negligence is a legal cause of injury if it "directly and in natural and continuous sequence produces or contributes substantially to producing" it; it need not be the only cause if it "contributes substantially" in combination with other causes (Fla. Std. Jury Instr. (Civ.) 401.12). The plaintiff must prove causation more likely than not (Gooding v. University Hosp. Bldg., Inc., 445 So. 2d 1015 (Fla. 1984)). Expert testimony is tested under the Daubert standard (§ 90.702; In re Amendments to the Florida Evidence Code, 278 So. 3d 551 (Fla. 2019)).

Joint and several liability. § 768.81(3): judgment against each party on the basis of its percentage of fault, "not on the basis of the doctrine of joint and several liability" (ch. 2006-6). By statute, § 768.81 does not apply to actions for economic damages from pollution, intentional-tort actions, or causes of action under listed chapters (§ 768.81(4)).

Nonparty fault. A defendant must plead a nonparty's fault and prove it by a preponderance of the evidence before the nonparty goes on the verdict form (§ 768.81(3)(a); Fabre v. Marin, 623 So. 2d 1182 (Fla. 1993)).

Settlement credits. §§ 768.041(2), 46.015(2) set off settlement amounts from a judgment, but only for damages that remain joint and several; they do not reduce a defendant's several share (Wells v. Tallahassee Mem. Reg'l Med. Ctr., 659 So. 2d 249 (Fla. 1995)).

How trust claims, lawsuits, and benefits can work together

Track	What it is	How it works with the others
Asbestos trust claims	Claims against the trusts set up by bankrupt manufacturers	No lawsuit required; each trust has its own rules. In a Florida lawsuit, settlement payments on the same claim, which can include trust payments, must be reported to the court, and bankrupt companies can be assigned a share of fault.
Civil lawsuit	Court case against solvent manufacturers and, in some cases, plant owners	Runs on its own timeline; the order of filings is decided case by case with our trial teams.
Workers' compensation	Benefits from the worker's own employer	Has its own notice and filing deadlines; the employer or insurer has a lien on a third-party recovery and may sue if the worker hasn't within a year.
VA disability	Federal benefit for veterans with asbestos disease tied to service	A civil or trust recovery doesn't reduce VA disability. VA and FECA for the same disease generally require an election.
FECA	Federal workers' compensation for federal civilian employees	The only remedy against the United States; FECA must be repaid from a recovery against a third party such as a product manufacturer.
Social Security disability	Federal disability benefit for workers under full retirement age	Workers' compensation can reduce it, and it can reduce a Florida court award.

Florida shipyard, Navy, and federal-facility exposure

Asbestos was used heavily in Navy ships, base steam plants, boiler rooms, and the buildings of Florida's military and space installations. Florida federal sites include NAS Pensacola, NAS Jacksonville, Naval Station Mayport, NSA Panama City, NAS Whiting Field, MacDill, Eglin, Hurlburt Field, and Tyndall Air Force Bases, Patrick Space Force Base and Cape Canaveral, and Kennedy Space Center.

These installations are not sued as property owners. What is available depends on who the worker was:

• Veterans with a described in-service exposure may qualify for VA disability. Active-duty service members cannot sue the United States.
• Federal civilian employees are covered by FECA, which is their only remedy against the United States. They may still have product claims against the manufacturers, and FECA must be repaid from that recovery.
• Contractor employees, such as many of the workers at Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral, are covered by their employer's workers' compensation and may have product claims against the manufacturers.
• Family members who were exposed at home may have their own claims against the product makers. A claim against the United States, if one exists, goes through the Federal Tort Claims Act, which has its own requirements, including a written claim to the agency first.

What happens after you call?

A free case review is a conversation, not a commitment to file a lawsuit.

1. You call or write. A staff member listens and asks basic questions about the diagnosis and the work history. No legal jargon, no pressure.
2. We review the work history. We match the worksite and job description against the trusts' Florida lists, more than 2,000 entries from 27 trusts.
3. We identify the claim paths. Trust claims, lawsuit, workers' compensation, VA, FECA, SSDI, whichever apply.
4. We send a representation agreement only if you want to move forward. No fee unless we recover. Contingent fee.
5. We decide the order of filings with you. Trust claims, benefits, and the lawsuit are timed case by case with our trial teams.
6. We file the lawsuit when appropriate, with the sworn exposure form and reports Florida requires.

Call 833-4-ASBESTOS to begin.

How Florida's laws may work in practice

Frederick is 74 and lives in Pensacola with his wife; they have two adult children. From 1970 to 1974 he served in the Navy as a boiler technician aboard ships homeported at Mayport, working in fire rooms lined with asbestos pipe and boiler insulation. From 1975 to 2005 he worked as an insulator for a private insulation contractor, mostly at the St. Regis Paper mill in Cantonment, the Monsanto Chemstrand nylon plant in Pensacola, and Gulf Power's Crist plant. He cut and fitted pipe covering and block insulation (Owens Corning Kaylo; Fibreboard Pabco), mixed insulating cement (Eagle-Picher), and worked around boilers (Babcock & Wilcox; Combustion Engineering), refractory (A.P. Green), and Johns-Manville insulation.

He had no significant health complaints until late 2025, when he developed abdominal pain, swelling, and weight loss. A February 2026 laparoscopy with biopsy confirmed peritoneal mesothelioma of the biphasic subtype.

For Frederick's family, several paths may open:

• Deadlines. His claims arose with the February 2026 diagnosis. His negligence claims must be filed by February 2028; some of his product claims may have until February 2030, depending on the product. We would treat February 2028 as the deadline. The twelve-year product cutoff should not bar claims for products he was exposed to within twelve years of their delivery, because his disease showed up later.
• Trust claims. At least 15 trusts, including Johns-Manville, list the Cantonment mill, and at least 12 list Chemstrand. Each trust has its own rules.
• A lawsuit in Escambia County circuit court against the companies that made the products he worked with, filed with the sworn exposure form Florida requires. Claims against the mill and plant owners are possible only if they controlled his work or knew of dangers his employer did not.
• Not his employer. His claim against his own employer, the insulation contractor, runs through workers' compensation, which has its own deadlines. If he receives comp, his employer's insurer has a lien on the lawsuit recovery and may sue on its own if he hasn't sued within a year of the diagnosis.
• VA disability for the mesothelioma, based on his exposure in the Navy's fire rooms. He cannot sue the Navy.
• No Social Security disability. At 74, he is past full retirement age.
• Damages. His medical expenses are measured under the 2023 rules, because the case is filed after March 24, 2023. Florida law does not allow punitive damages in asbestos cases.

Frederick's wife washed his work clothes for decades. We have not found a Florida appellate decision on whether a plant owner or employer owes a duty to a worker's family members exposed at home; claims against the product makers depend on the facts. As part of our representation, we offer free asbestos health screening to family members of every client who may have been exposed at home. The screening is a chest X-ray read by a B-reader, with a CT scan if needed; it looks for asbestos-related changes in the lungs and isn't a diagnosis or a reliable way to find mesothelioma early.

Legal analysis of this hypothetical

Limitations and repose. Accrual on discovery of impairment, February 2026 (§ 774.206(1)); negligence two years (§ 95.11(5)(a), ch. 2023-15, § 28); product claims four years where § 95.11(3)(d) applies (personal property not permanently incorporated in an improvement to real property); repose exception, § 95.031(2)(c).

Ch. 774. No prima facie impairment showing for mesothelioma (§ 774.204(6)); sworn information form and collateral-source report at filing (§§ 774.205(3), 774.207(2)); no punitive damages (§ 774.207(1)); Florida exposure and domicile satisfy § 774.205(1).

Theories. Strict liability (consumer expectations, Aubin), negligence, and warranty against the manufacturers. Plant owners: Johnson v. Boca Raton Cmty. Hosp. (no duty to a contractor's insulator absent control or superior knowledge). Whether a plant owner that hired the contractor was itself a "contractor" with statutory-employer immunity (§ 440.10(1)(b)) is checked owner by owner.

Fault. Comparative fault with the 50% bar (§ 768.81(6); filed after March 24, 2023); defendants may seek to place bankrupt manufacturers on the verdict form (§ 768.81(3)(a)).

Damages. § 768.0427 applies (filed after March 24, 2023). As a Medicare beneficiary, the evidence for his unpaid and future medical expenses includes 120% of the Medicare rate. § 768.76 collateral-source rules apply.

Workers' compensation. Occupational disease (§ 440.151); 90-day notice (§ 440.151(6)); two-year petition (§ 440.19(1)); lien, the carrier's suit right after one year, and settlement consent (§ 440.39).

Federal. VA service connection for in-service exposure; no claim against the United States for active-duty service (Feres v. United States, 340 U.S. 135 (1950)).

If Frederick dies during the case. His personal-injury action abates and the personal representative brings a wrongful-death action (§ 768.20). His wife may recover for loss of companionship and her mental pain and suffering; his children, who are over 25, may not recover those damages while she survives (§ 768.21(2)–(3)).

This example is general. Every case depends on the diagnosis, exposure history, dates, defendants, applicable law, and available evidence.

Why families choose our firm

Our firm has recovered over $400 million for asbestos clients nationally. For Florida families, that means:

• Every one of the more than 2,000 Florida entries on the asbestos trusts' lists, from 27 trusts, and more than a hundred clients with Florida job sites
• We routinely get claims approved by many asbestos trusts.
• Trust, civil, and federal benefits coordinated case by case with our trial teams
• Remote case handling. Florida families do not need to travel to our offices.
• No fee unless we recover. Contingent fee. Florida lets the winning side recover its court costs, and under Florida's offer-of-judgment statute a family that turns down a defendant's formal offer and then recovers at least 25% less, or nothing, can be ordered to pay the defendant's attorney's fees and costs incurred after the offer. We discuss every settlement offer with the family before anyone responds to it.

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