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what are people actually getting for meso settlements

Veteran · · 3,616 views
Been doing some reading on this and the numbers I'm seeing online are all over the place. Saw stuff ranging from like 100k to millions and I'm trying to figure out what's realistic.

I'm Stage II pleural, diagnosed June, had my pleurectomy in August so I'm doing alright recovery-wise. Got a decent work history on the Oriskany back in the 70s and 80s as a hull tech, so that exposure is solid. My VA claim is moving but I also got contacted by a couple law firms about a civil claim.

I get that every case is different depending on where the exposure happened and what your medical situation looks like and all that. But is there actually an average number people should be expecting? Like ballpark. I don't need specifics on my own case right now, just trying to understand what I'm even looking at here so I can ask better questions when I talk to the attorneys.

Anybody been through this part yet?

8 Replies

Veteran
Numbers all over the place is putting it mildly. I'm Stage II like you, diagnosed October after a cough that wouldn't quit, had surgery in December. Still waiting on my VA claim from November so I can't speak to that side yet but the civil stuff is where things get weird.

What I'm hearing from guys I've talked to on here and in real life is that military exposure cases tend to land different than civilian ones. The Oriskany is solid documentation, that ship's well-known for asbestos. But honestly the range really is huge depending on whether you settle pre-litigation or go to trial, what state you're in, how aggressive your legal team is. I've seen guys mention anywhere from low six figures to way more but that's not me saying that's what you should expect.

The VA bureaucracy is its own nightmare by the way. I filed in November and I'm still in the void. Don't let that slow down your civil claim though. Those are separate tracks.

Best thing I did was actually get on the phone with the attorneys and ask them straight up what similar military cases from your era and branch have settled for. They'll give you a realistic range based on actual comps, not internet rumors. They've got the data. Ask about stage of diagnosis, recovery status, whether there's like documented exposure at a specific base or ship. That matters.

Camp Lejeune cases from my time there hit different than shipboard exposure sometimes. Get specific with them.
Attorney ✓ Expert Response
Good question and honestly one that more people should be asking before they sit down with an attorney rather than after.

The honest answer is the range you're seeing online is real, not clickbait. Settlement values in asbestos cases vary that much because they're driven by a pretty specific set of factors: documented exposure, number of defendants, your state's laws, and the severity of diagnosis. Pleural mesothelioma cases tend to resolve differently than peritoneal, and Stage II at time of filing looks different than Stage IV. So the spread from low six figures to multi-million is genuinely what the market looks like.

Navy hull tech with documented service on a specific vessel in the 70s and 80s is actually strong from an exposure standpoint. The Oriskany had extensive asbestos use in pipe insulation, boiler rooms, and engine spaces, and there's decades of litigation history around ships of that era that establishes the exposure record pretty well. You're not starting from scratch trying to prove you were near asbestos.

The thing that often surprises people is that civil claims and VA claims run on completely separate tracks and don't offset each other the way some folks assume. You can pursue both. I've seen clients get their VA rating finalized around the same time their civil case resolved and it didn't reduce their settlement.

What I'd actually focus on when you talk to those firms is asking them specifically how many navy veteran mesothelioma cases they've handled in the last five years, and what states those resolved in. Jurisdiction matters more than most people realize going in.

Consult an attorney who can review your specific situation before making any decisions.
3 found this helpful
Patient
I'm peritoneal Stage II so slightly different exposure history, but the attorneys I've talked to were pretty clear that it really does depend on the specific defendant and which state you'd be filing in, plus your work records and medical documentation. From what I've gathered talking to people in support groups, you're looking at a wide range, but having solid exposure documentation like you do from the Navy makes a difference. Honestly I'd just ask them point blank what comparable cases have settled for in your jurisdiction and see what they say.
Attorney ✓ Expert Response
The range you're seeing online isn't misleading, it's just genuinely that wide. Factors like diagnosis stage, specific manufacturers involved, state jurisdiction, and whether a case goes to trial versus settles all pull the numbers in very different directions. A case in Texas resolves differently than the same facts in California or New York, and that's before you even get into which defendants are still solvent versus which ones settled into trust funds decades ago.

Your exposure history on the Oriskany is actually a meaningful detail. Navy hull tech work from that era has well-documented asbestos use, and there are established trust funds from manufacturers who supplied insulation and gasket products to the fleet. Some of those trusts have fixed payment schedules, so there's more predictability there than with a live civil defendant.

The thing that will move your number more than almost anything else is your damages picture, medical expenses, lost income if you were still working, pain and suffering under your state's rules. Stage II with surgical intervention and ongoing treatment builds that picture differently than an early-stage catch.

One thing I'd flag, and I've seen this matter in cases going back to the mid-2000s, is whether the attorneys who contacted you have actual trial experience in asbestos cases specifically. Some firms handle dozens of these a year, some are referring them out. Worth asking directly how many asbestos cases they've taken to verdict, not just settled.

Please do consult an attorney about your specific situation before making any decisions here.
2 found this helpful
Veteran
Yeah that makes sense. The jurisdiction thing I didn't think about enough, just figured asbestos was asbestos. So when you say the defendants settled into trusts already, does that mean the money's already allocated and there's less negotiating room, or is it just a different process for getting paid? And I'm guessing the Oriskany exposure pointing to specific manufacturers helps narrow down who's actually still on the hook versus who's already gone through bankruptcy.
Patient
The ranges you're seeing are honestly that wide because stage, cell type, age, and exposure source all matter a ton, plus whether you're going after individual defendants or trust funds changes things completely. I'd focus less on ballpark numbers right now and more on making sure whoever you talk to has actual experience with Navy asbestos cases specifically, since those have their own quirks compared to industrial exposure like mine was.
Family
Joe and I haven't gone through a settlement yet since he's still in treatment, but we've definitely started having those conversations with the attorneys. Honestly the range you're seeing is real and it's frustrating because yeah, every case really is different.

What I've learned from talking to folks here and our legal team is that stage and work history matter huge, but so does where you're located and which companies are still solvent enough to actually pay out. The Oriskany exposure is actually pretty well documented which I think helps your position. We got initial consultations from a couple firms back in December and they all asked basically the same stuff... how long the exposure lasted, whether you have other medical stuff going on, where you worked, all of it.

The honest thing is I think the "millions" you're seeing online might be real for some people but probably not the norm, especially for stage II. That doesn't mean you won't get a fair number, just means don't go in expecting the high end. I've seen people mention five figures and six figures depending on their situation. One woman in our support group mentioned hers was in the low hundreds of thousands but she had significant asbestos exposure over like 20 years and was sicker than a lot of folks.

I'd just say take your time talking to the attorneys. Don't rush it. They're used to answering these ballpark questions and the good ones will give you a realistic range based on your specific stuff, not just generic numbers. Joe's team was really clear about what factors would move things up or down for us...

How's the recovery going from your pleurectomy? That's still pretty fresh.
Patient
I've been keeping detailed notes on this stuff since my diagnosis in November, partly because I needed to understand it and partly because my brain needed something to focus on besides the diagnosis itself. One thing the attorneys didn't emphasize enough when I first talked to them is that the settlement range really does shift based on whether you're looking at active manufacturers still operating versus trust claims. The trust payouts tend to be more predictable but also more modest, whereas if there's an active defendant involved, the numbers can move differently. I had Johns-Manville exposure from my insulation factory work 1978-1985, so that's already in trust, but when I asked about whether there could be secondary defendants from product distribution or installation, suddenly the conversation got more complicated in a way that suggested there might be more variables than I initially thought. I'd recommend asking your attorneys specifically which defendants you might have claims against and whether any of them are still solvent versus already in bankruptcy. That distinction seems to matter way more than the generic "stage II settlement" numbers you'll find online. Also, your VA claim and civil claim are going to be totally separate paths, which I'm learning means timing gets weird because they don't necessarily move in sync.

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