Dallas Law Firm Notes $9.3 Million Asbestos Verdict Against Georgia-Pacific

The Dallas law firm of Baron & Budd P.C., has announced a jury verdict of $9.3 million for the family of an East Texas man who reportedly died from a cancer caused by his exposure to asbestos fibers as a child.

Baron & Budd attorneys Chris Panatier and John Langdoc, along with Dallas attorney Charla Aldous of Aldous & McDougal represented the family of Timothy Shawn Bostic.

Jurors in the case heard how Bostic was reportedly exposed to asbestos while working with his father as a child and teenager in the 1960s and 1970s. Witnesses reportedly testified that Bostic frequently used an asbestos-containing joint compound manufactured by Atlanta-based Georgia-Pacific Corp.

Court documents reportedly showed that Georgia-Pacific officials knew about the health dangers of asbestos as early as 1967. However, the company reportedly continued to sell products that contained asbestos as late as 1977.

In 2003, Bostic was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer caused by asbestos exposure. He died at the age of 41 on Sept. 5, 2003, leaving behind his wife, Susan, and son, Kyle.

“This verdict showed the Bostic family that their loss could have been
prevented,” said Panatier. “We are grateful that the jury understood the responsibility Georgia-Pacific had in causing the asbestos exposure that eventually took Mr. Bostic’s life.”

The effects of asbestos exposure, including the onset of diseases like
mesothelioma and asbestosis, can reportedly take years or even decades to surface. More than 35 years reportedly passed before Bostic began showing symptoms of mesothelioma. He died less than a year after his initial diagnosis.

The jury of three men and three women returned the verdict in Dallas Judge Sally Montgomery’s County Court at Law No. 3 at approximately 6:15 p.m. on Monday, March 14. The three-week trial concluded after approximately four hours of jury deliberations.

The jury reportedly found Georgia-Pacific negligent for failing to warn Bostic about the asbestos dangers in its joint compound, and awarded Bostic’s family $3.127 million in compensatory damages and $6.2 million in punitive damages.

Georgia-Pacific was represented by Mel Bailey of Dallas’ Bailey / Crowe & Kugler.