Practice Areas
The simplest way to describe the Robert E. Sweeney Co., LPA is to say we are a personal injury law firm. We litigate on behalf of people who have been injured because someone failed to do what they were suppose to do.
These cases arise out of a broad range of circumstances. Automobile accidents and nursing home negligence cases would be examples of cases typical of this area of practice, but there are also cases based on medical malpractice or defective products claims. Other cases arise out of misconduct by public officials, for example, or because of employer misconduct or discrimination.
Our firm is skilled at working up any serious injury case coming out of these various fact patterns. We have the resources and expelience necessary to be successful in these areas.
Product liability practice is a sophisticated and specialized area of the law that requires resources and experience that runs a little deeper than basic personal injury work.
These cases can only be pursued successfully if the firm can enlist the proper experts in product design or safety to demonstrate to a jury that a devastating injury could have been avoided if the manufacturer had behaved responsibly.
Through past efforts, our firm has had a long history of success in product liability litigation, starting with our work in asbestos cases over the last 35 years. We have also pursued product liability cases on behalf of victims of chemical exposures causing lung injuries and blood disease like leukemia. Some of these cases have resulted in substantial recoveries for men and women who have suffered devastating lung injury after their occupational exposure to diacetyl, a butter flavoring used in the manufacture of microwave popcorn and other snack foods. We have also represented victims of industrial accidents that have been seriously injured because of defective equipment such as poorly designed tow motors or defective presses.
Toxic tort is really just a sub-set of the product liability area of the law, but it happens to be the foundation of the success our firm has experienced over the past 35 years. That success has grown out of our work in the field of asbestos litigation, which is the classic presentation of toxic tort law. Asbestos cases are based on the premise that the dangers of asbestos exposure were known or knowable at the time asbestos products were marketed, but the manufacturers' pursuit of profits blinded them to their responsibility to warn the consumers of their products as to the inherent dangers of asbestos. As a result, the users of these products have suffered terrible disease outcomes - basically lung cancer and mesothelioma cancer - that have robbed them of their health and shortened their lives significantly.
Our firm has represented thousands of men and women that have suffered with asbestos-related cancers or other occupationally related diseases such as benzene induced leukemia.
Over the years, our firm has participated in a wide range of cases that span both personal injury and property damage recovery. We have been lead counsel in class action litigation brought on behalf of bank customers who were unfairly victimized by the loan agreements offered to them. (Ohio Savings Litigation).
We have also served as lead counsel in class actions brought on behalf of employees of a state university seeking medical monitoring asa remedy for their occupational exposures to asbestos. (WVA Litigation).
We have represented claimants who have been discliminated against in their employment, on the basis of their race, age or sex. We are experienced in the rights of consumers and have represented those who have been victimized by unfair or deceptive practices. These cases have been brought as individual actions in most instances, but where warranted, we have also pursued these claims as dass actions. (Shell Case).
Another substantial area of our practice is workers' compensation law. For the most part, this involves the pursuit of total disability and death claims on behalf of our clients who suffer from occupationally related cancers. These benefits can be substantial, and can provide the disabled worker and his family with desperately needed security as they try to cope with their illness.
In general, whether the issue is complex litigation, commercial litigation, class action work or claims advanced on behalf of individual plaintiffs, our firm is committed to providing the best legal representation possible.