Mesothelioma Lawyer

A legal mentor of mine once told me to be careful about leading with your heart as a plaintiffs’ attorney because you just might get hurt. While the advice is sound and good, sometimes you have no other choice in my line of business.

I have had the great, yet sad, honor of representing victims of mesothelioma for the last 15 yrs.

Mesothelioma is a deadly form of cancer only caused from exposure to asbestos. I have represented all walks of mesothelioma victims; a 39-year-old mother of nine, exposed to asbestos via her father’s work clothes; a 79-year-old asbestos worker who worked with asbestos every day; a 54-year-old wife and mother of two exposed to asbestos by shaking out and laundering her father’s work uniform; a 46-year-old principal who worked two summers at a steel mill.

You name it; I have seen it. While I have never stood in the shoes of a meso victim, I have walked side by side with them and know the fight of their life they have in front of them. Mesothelioma is a very aggressive, incurable and mostly untreatable form of cancer.

While some mesotheliomas can occur around the lining of the abdomen or the heart, most mesothelioma cancers occur in the lining of the lung – called the pleura. While science tells us mesothelioma is caused from asbestos, it cannot tell us why some people get mesothelioma and some do not, no matter how heavy or how insignificant the exposure.

When I consult with victims of mesothelioma, I know what lies ahead for them. Representing mesothelioma victims can be a very heavy burden emotionally, psychologically, and even physically. There comes a huge responsibility when you are the advocate who is fighting for their legal rights. I know of no other way than getting extremely close to my clients to better understand what they are going through, what they are feeling, what they are scared of, what their dreams were before the cancer, and what their worries are after the diagnosis of cancer.

Mesothelioma is a very personal cancer and the only way I know how to do the best job possible in representing my clients, is to get up close and personal with the them and their family. While my job entails a great deal of legal strategy with my opponents, it also involves a great deal of psychological and emotional counseling with my clients.

While there is the business aspect and arrangement in representing asbestos clients, there is the personal nature of representing victims who have a deadly form of incurable cancer. You have to be able to counsel these innocent victims about treatment options for the cancer, depression that comes with cancer, financial hardships, estate planning concerns and a wide array of issues not only from a legal standpoint, but from a personal and emotional standpoint as well.

As strange as this sounds, I try to fall in love with each and every one of my clients. I know that what they are going through is very personal to them and if I make it personal, I will do a better job in representing their interests. While yes, leading with your heart has taken a toll on me these last 15 years, it is the only way I know how to truly represent my clients to the best of my ability.

I love and hate my job at the same time. I love fighting on behalf of those who need an advocate, a voice for the voiceless, and the strength to fight for them when they have been struck down. I hate my job because I know that my client will have to endure days, weeks and months of unbearable pain and discomfort, loss of weight and appetite, nausea, shortness of breath, depression, anxiety, physical impairment and ultimately death.

I am a firm believer in faith and prayer. I pray each and every day for the strength and wisdom to give my clients the best representation possible. Moreover, I pray that my clients will have the power to endure all that mesothelioma will throw at them.

While leading with one’s heart in my line of work can cause tumult and heartache, it is the only way I truly know how to lead my clients to the promise of hope and justice yet unfulfilled. — Michael Patronella

(Mike is a Mesothelioma Lawyer with Williams Kherkher.  To contact Mike, call 1.800.220.9341.)