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Honoring Mesothelioma Awareness Day 2014 by Supporting Medical Research

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mesothelioma awareness day 2014Mesothelioma Awareness Day 2014 is September 26. But here at Kazan Law, in a way every day is Mesothelioma Awareness Day. Because our work in asbestos litigation brings us close to those whose lives are forever impacted by mesothelioma, we seek not only justice for mesothelioma victims and their families, but also advances in mesothelioma medical research. Through our firm and our firm’s foundation, we help support mesothelioma research at leading medical facilities all over the world. But we place special emphasis on two here in the Bay Area: the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and Stanford University. Not only are they top notch, they also have helped care for many of our clients.

Like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, scientific medical research involves finding many small intricate pieces that in the end will fit together to solve the puzzle. We are proud to support scientists in trying to fit together all those parts on a microbiological level to advance knowledge about mesothelioma.

Here are ten recently published research papers where our foundation’s support is noted in the acknowledgements section:

1.The expression of Dishevelled-3 and glutamine metabolism in malignant pleural mesothelioma

Researchers: Tong Li, Sheng-Cai Hou, Jian-Hua Mao, et al.

Research Institution: The University of California San Francisco

Publication: Journal of Clinical Pathology   Citation: J Clin Pathol 2012 65: 855-858

2.Cul4A is an oncogene in malignant pleural mesothelioma

Researchers: Ming-Szu Hung, Jian-Hua Mao, Zhidong Xu, Cheng-Ta Yang, Jau-Song Yu, Chansonette Harvard, Yu-Ching Lin, Dawn Therese Bravo, David M. Jablons, Liang You

 

Research Institution: University of California San Francisco

Publication: Journal of Cell Molecular Medicine   Citation: J. Cell. Mol. Med. Vol 15, No 2, 2011 pp. 350-358

3.Gli as a Novel Therapeutic Target in Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma

Researchers: Hui Li , Natalie Lui , Tiffany Cheng , Hsin-Hui K. Tseng , Dongsheng Yue, Etienne Giroux-Leprieur, \\

Research Institution: The University of California San Francisco

Publication: The Public Library of Science (PLOS) Citation: PLOS ONE | www.plosone.org 1 March 2013 | Volume 8 | Issue 3 | e57346

4.The homeobox gene EMX2 is a prognostic and predictive marker in malignant pleural mesothelioma

Researchers: Etienne Giroux Leprieur, Tomomi Hirata, Minli Mo, Zhao Chen, Junichi Okamoto, Genevieve Clement, Hui Li, Marie Wislez, David M. Jablons, Biao He

Research Institution: The University of California San Francisco

Publication: Lung Cancer Journal   Citation: Lung Cancer (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lungcan.2014.06.018

5.Inhibition of activated phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/AKT pathway in malignant pleural mesothelioma leads to G1 cell cycle arrest

Researchers: Iwao Mikami, Fang Zhang1, Tomomi Hirata, Junichi Okamoto, Kiyoshi Koizumi, Kazuo Shimizu, David Jablons and Biao He

Research Institution: The University of California San Francisco

Publication: Oncology Reports   Citation: Oncology Reports 24: 1677-1681, 2010

6.SMO expression level correlates with overall survival in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma

Researchers: Yi Zhang, Jianxing He, Fang Zhang, Hui Li, Dongsheng Yue, Changli Wang, David M Jablons, Biao He and Natalie Lui

Research Institution: The University of California San Francisco

Publication: Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research Citation: Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research 2013, 32:7 http://www.jeccr.com/content/32/1/7

7.The expression of CXCR4, CXCL12 and CXCR7 in malignant pleural mesothelioma

Researchers: Tong Li, Hui Li, Yucheng Wang,Chansonette Harvard, Jia-Li Tan, Alfred Au,7 Zhidong Xu, David M Jablons and Liang You

Research Institution: The University of California San Francisco

Publication: Journal of Pathology  Citation: J Pathol 2011; 223: 519–530

8.Targeting Gli transcription activation by small molecule suppresses tumor growth

Researchers: G. Bosco-Clement, F. Zhang, Z .Chen, H-M Zhou, H. Li, I. Mikami, Hirata, A. Yagui-Beltran, N Lu, H.T. Do

Research Institution: The University of California San Francisco

Publication: Oncogene   Citation: Oncogene (2014) 33, 2087–2097

9.Transgenic Mice for Cre-Inducible Overexpression of the Cul4A Gene

Researchers: Tong Li,Ming-Szu Hung,Yucheng Wang,Jian-Hua Mao, Jia-Li Tan,Kenneth Jahan, Hannah Roos,Zhidong Xu, David M. Jablons and Liang You

Research Institution: The University of California San Francisco

Publication: Genesis: The Journal of Genetics and Development     Citation: genesis 49:134–141 (2011)

10.miR-1 Induces Growth Arrest and Apoptosis in Malignant Mesothelioma

Researchers: Yue Xu , PhD ; Ming Zheng , PhD ; Robert E. Merritt , MD ; Joseph B. Shrager , MD ; Heather A. Wakelee , MD ; Robert A. Kratzke , MD ; and Chuong D. Hoang , MD

Research Institution: Stanford University

Publication: Chest   Citation: Chest 2013; 144(5):1632–1643

New Kazan Law Asbestos Attorney Talks About Her Work on Death Row

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asbestos attorneyDawn Withers, a new asbestos attorney here at Kazan Law, already has a track record for helping to balance the scales of justice by providing legal help to those who need it most. During her years as a student at Golden Gate University’s School of Law, where she graduated with honors in 2013, she worked with the California Appellate Project, assisting clients on death row; and the Homeless Advocacy Project, representing indigent clients facing eviction.

“Performing public service is part of a healthy functioning democracy,” Dawn said when we spoke about her work with these two San Francisco legal nonprofits.

At Golden Gate, Dawn participated in the Honors Lawyering Program in which students attend intensive classes during the summer and then work full-time at a legal non-profit for the fall semester.

“I wanted experience in the criminal justice system,” Dawn explained, ”so I chose to work with prisoners on death row for those four months.”

Dawn assisted a team of attorneys and investigators who worked with death row inmates, including those at San Quentin. Located in nearby Marin County, San Quentin is home to the state’s only gas chamber and death row for male condemned inmates.

“I learned how important it is to work with a prisoner when they first arrive,” said Dawn. “It can be three years before they are assigned an appellate counsel and a lot can happen in that time. As a student, I was able to help the California Appellate Project attorneys to gather documents and interview the client to gather evidence for their appeal.”

At the Homeless Advocacy Project, Dawn spent several months assisting the group with the case of an indigent client who was facing eviction.

Working with the California Appellate Project and the Homeless Advocacy Project was a good fit for Dawn.

“It was a very fulfilling part of my law school experience to assist the attorneys at both these groups who provide legal services to people in crisis who otherwise wouldn’t have access to legal help.”

We are sure that Dawn will work diligently on behalf of asbestos victims and are proud to add her to our roster of asbestos attorneys at Kazan Law.

Meet Kazan Law Asbestos Attorney Irena Kin

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asbestos attorneyKazan Law is proud to introduce our new asbestos attorney Irena Kin. Irena, who graduated cum laude from the Chicago-Kent College of Law in 2013 where she was a senior member of the Moot Court Honor Society, has a special affinity for the work we do here at Kazan Law as asbestos lawyers: empowering the powerless and speaking up for those whose voice is not heard. When Irena was three years old, she and her family left Tashkent, Uzbekistan as refugees and settled in Chicago.  They had to adjust to life in a new country with an unfamiliar language where they had no professional or social network, and no jobs. As Irina’s English skills flourished, she became at a very young age the voice for her dislocated family.

“I became their translator and as a result I also became their advocate and had to be involved in adult decisions and responsibilities,” Irena explains.

She went on to graduate summa cum laude from DePaul University in 2010 with a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies prior to starting law school. Irena is a member of both the State Bar of California and the State Bar of Illinois.

Her early experiences inspired her to become a determined advocate for asbestos victims and we are pleased that she has come to the Bay Area from Chicago to join Kazan Law. Now, let’s talk a little more with Irena:

Why did you choose to go to law school?

Attorneys communicate persuasively, advocate for the injured, and fight to balance the scales of justice.  That sounded like a perfect match for my skills and goals.

How did you become interested in working with asbestos and mesothelioma cases?

Individuals suffering from mesothelioma are victims of corporate irresponsibility.  I wanted to help them seek compensation, and in doing so, send a message to companies that profits cannot be gained at the cost of worker health and safety.

Why did you choose to work for Kazan Law?

The people at Kazan are hard-working, passionate, and at the top of their game.  That’s the team I want to play for.

How do you hope your work at Kazan Law will help mesothelioma victims?

Unfortunately, the legal system cannot award improved health or bring back loved ones, but it can help to right injustice through compensation.  I hope to help mesothelioma victims achieve a sense of justice and cope with the financial burden of illness.

New MestheliomaCircle.org Website Provides Easy Access to Meso Info

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mesotheliomacircle.org

We are excited to tell you about the recent redesign of our health website MesotheliomaCircle.org. We sponsor this site in order to provide resources and information about mesothelioma, its treatment and causes as well as how to pursue legal remedies.

We provide this information at MesotheliomaCircle.org to everyone free of charge with no subscription, log-in or sign-up required.

At Kazan Law, we offer experienced legal help to mesothelioma patients and the other victims of asbestos exposure. But we understand that mesothelioma patients and their families need more than legal help. Mesothelioma is a ruthless cruel disease that lies dormant for many years. But when it emerges it moves quickly. Mesothelioma patients and their families suddenly need to know about all kinds of important things such as tests and medical procedures, how to prevent weight loss from chemotherapy, how to prepare for a hospital visit and what experimental treatments are available for free through the U.S. government’s cancer research agency. Mesothelioma families also very much need some upbeat fun ideas like how massage therapy, pets, funny movies and even a little bit of dark chocolate can be of some benefit to mesothelioma patients.

That’s why we started MesotheliomaCircle.org. We want to offer support for mesothelioma patients and their families in a comprehensive meaningful way that tries to address all their needs in one convenient place.

At Mesothelioma Circle, we have a team of professionals dedicated to helping mesothelioma patients and their families to get the information they need to make informed decisions about their health, financial, and legal care.

We take special care to provide you with the most current information with links to the most credible sources available on the wide range of topics we cover.

We hope our new design for the website makes all the information you need even more accessible. Please check it out and tell us what you think.

Kazan Law Chosen For 2015 Best Lawyers List

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2015 Best Lawyers

Clockwise from top left Steven Kazan, David McClain, Denise Abrams, Dianna Lyons

What an honor it is this year as Kazan Law celebrates its 40th year to be chosen for Best Lawyers highly selective list for 2015.

For 40 years, Kazan Law has made it our number one priority to fight for justice for innocent people fatally poisoned with asbestos by those who thought they could profit by getting away with murder. In trying to balance the scales of justice, we seek to empower the powerless and through monetary awards in some way right the wrongs that were done to them and their families.

That is all. That is enough. Our legal wins on behalf of our clients gives us all the accolades we need. And yet it is very gratifying for our elite mesothelioma law firm to receive this esteemed professional accolade from our comrades at arms, our community of attorneys.

Selected for the Best Lawyers list for Oakland in the categories of mass tort litigation and class action on behalf of plaintiffs along with me are my longtime partner David McClain, recently retired partner Dianna Lyons and partner Denise Abrams. For me and David both, this year marks our tenth anniversary of being part of this elite list. We are delighted and also grateful to our colleagues for highlighting us as their choice for these categories.

For us, one of the most meaningful aspects of being selected for Best Lawyers is that it is strictly a peer-based list. It is not a paid for honor. It can’t be bought.

In the words of Best Lawyer: Inclusion in Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer-review. The methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area. Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer-review survey is directly related to the quality of its voting pool.

Best Lawyers is the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession. A listing in Best Lawyers is widely regarded by both clients and legal professionals as a significant honor, conferred on a lawyer by his or her peers. For more than three decades, Best Lawyers lists have earned the respect of the profession, the media, and the public, as the most reliable, unbiased source of legal referrals anywhere.

To our esteemed colleagues we say a humble thank you.

Proving Previous Employers In An Asbestos Lawsuit

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asbestos lawsuitOne of the most important pieces of proof needed for a successful asbestos lawsuit is proof that you worked in a place where you were exposed to asbestos.

If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, it is absolutely because you were exposed to asbestos. Asbestos causes mesothelioma. It starts when asbestos fibers, so tiny they cannot be seen by the human eye, become airborne and get inhaled into the lungs. Construction and maintenance workers are all at increased risk because of asbestos lurking in building materials, especially older buildings. Auto repair and parts workers are similarly at risk from asbestos used in brake linings and brake pads.

But once asbestos fibers settle into the lungs and begin to cause damage, it can take years – decades, even – for the damage to make itself known through mesothelioma symptoms.

By the time you receive a mesothelioma diagnosis, it may be years since you worked for the company responsible for causing your disease. But to launch a successful asbestos lawsuit you are going to need to show solid proof that you in fact worked there.

How do you do that? In other circumstances, you might go to the IRS website to get transcripts of your tax returns. But the IRS only keeps returns for seven years. And the asbestos exposure that caused your mesothelioma probably goes back longer than that.

If you didn’t keep copies of your old W2 forms and/or tax returns – and why would you, you weren’t expecting to get mesothelioma – your best bet is the Social Security Administration. From their website, you can:

  • create an online account to access and print your employment history
  • locate the nearest Social Security Administration office to get in-person help
  • find their 800 number but we’ll give it to you here (warning – it’s a government agency so it’ll take patience to get through to an actual human) 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778)

Or you can contact our office. We have years of experience doing this and would be happy to help you retrieve this important information for your asbestos lawsuit.

Kazan Law Partner Frank Fernandez Honored By La Raza Centro Legal

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Frank FernandezKazan Law is proud to announce that our partner and colleague Francis “Frank” E. Fernandez has been honored by San Francisco La Raza Centro Legal, a group he helped found in 1973 while he was still in law school. La Raza Centro Legal is a community-based legal organization dedicated to empowering Latino, immigrant and low-income communities of San Francisco to advocate for their civil and human rights, combining legal services, organizing, advocacy, and social services to build grassroots power and alliances towards creating a movement for a just society.

The nonprofit organization’s new Frank Fernandez Endowment was announced at their 41st Anniversary Gala, an event co-sponsored by the Kazan Law Foundation. “The Frank Fernandez Endowment will allow us to hire an immigration attorney fellow in the coming year. Such is only possible because of the many donors who believe in our work and more importantly believe in honoring our founder Frank Fernandez,” said Carlos Osorio, La Raza’s Senior Law Program Coordinator. “We are truly honored that the Frank Fernandez Immigration Attorney Fellow will be possible.

Back in the old days, Frank was a labor lawyer working with the United Farm Workers of America, the group started by Cesar Chavez in the 1960s to support and empower Latino agricultural field workers. Frank’s experience working with the UFW and the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board, the AFL-CIO, and the California Department of Occupational Health & Safety (Cal-OSHA), showed me he was a lawyer who like me also was passionate about protecting the rights of workers to work in safe healthy work environments., someone who not only would fight for justice for workers when their rights were violated but who also was skilled enough to win.

I knew Frank was a great fit for the kind of firm that we were trying to build. And I was right.  I did not realize then that by 2014, Latinos for would become California’s largest ethnic group, making up 39% of the state’s population, but that only 4.2% of the state’s lawyers would be Latino, as the California State Bar reported in a recent diversity study.  Diversity has always been one of the firm’s goals. We believe that our staff should reflect the people we serve.

I am proud of all that Frank has accomplished on behalf of victims of asbestos exposure through his work at Kazan Law. I am equally proud of his pioneering work on behalf of the Latino community in his founding and ongoing work with La Raza Centro Legal and of the support he has received from Kazan Law’s foundation for this vital organization.

Kazan Law Attorney Frances Schreiberg Honored with Annual Award

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Frances SchreibergA passionate Kazan Law attorney just received a special honor from a workers safety group and all of us at our mesothelioma law firm feel honored and proud. Frances Schreiberg, a longtime Kazan Law Of Counsel attorney who works on pro bono cases for us, has just had a new annual award launched in her honor. It is aptly called the Frances Schreiberg Pro Bono Award.

The Cambridge Dictionary defines moral compass as “a natural feeling that makes people know what is right and wrong and how they should behave.” In the workday world, where workers continue to be put at risk for death, disease and injury whether due to asbestos exposure, faulty machinery, chemical fumes or myriad other causes, Fran serves as a moral compass for the community. She gives a voice to those who are too fearful to speak up and she empowers the unempowered.

Before I convinced her to work for Kazan Law in 1991, Fran worked for:

  • the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, training administrative law judges, attorneys and investigators
  • the State of California, Department of Industrial Relations, and among other tasks, managed the criminal Bureau of Investigations at Cal/OSHA where she prosecuted companies when workers were killed or maimed as a result of unsafe or unhealthful conditions on the job.
  • the State Building & Construction Trades Council of California, developed an occupational safety and health program for them, and was involved with a variety of construction trade union issues

Since 1984 she has been an active member of numerous Cal/OSHA regulatory advisory committees, including ones for asbestos, lead and other workplace safety hazards. In 1987, Fran and I were part of a concerned group trying to restore Cal/OSHA when powerful business interests temporarily succeeded in dissolving it. That group was the nucleus of WorkSafe and Fran has been involved with WorkSafe ever since.

WorkSafe, headquartered in Oakland, California, remains dedicated to eliminating workplace hazards. It is fitting that the group has created an annual Frances Schreiberg Pro Bono Award to be presented at their annual anniversary celebration. This year’s inaugural recipient at WorkSafe’s 31st anniversary celebration was Julius Young, a partner at the Oakland firm Boxer & Gerson.

Sophie Noero, Worksafe’s program administrator commented afterwards, “It was a wonderful event, and I am so thrilled that we were able to acknowledge and celebrate Fran’s and the firm’s invaluable support of Worksafe in front of so many members of our community.”

We are too.

Workers Rights Summer Brown Bag Series

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workers rightsOur mission at Kazan Law to defend those harmed by workplace asbestos exposure keeps us focused on worker safety and workers’ rights.  Manufacturing may have declined in the United States in recent years but blue collar work – whether in agriculture, automotive or service industries – has not. A 2012 survey finds that in California blue collar workers outnumbered white collar workers 61% to 39%.  For that same year, Worksafe, a California nonprofit that Kazan Law has supported for many years, reported that 451,500 of those blue collar workers were injured or made ill at their jobs. An additional 339 were killed.

Therefore we feel that it is important to educate our summer asbestos law clerks as well as new employees of the firm who have recently graduated not just about the law and our practice, but also about our deep commitment to justice for all and defending workers’ rights to safety and health on the job as well as other important workers’ rights.  One of the ways we do this is with a weekly brown bag lunch series throughout the summer. The summer law clerks and any staff who choose to attend bring their lunch at noon to our conference room. There we provide cookies and beverages along with short documentary films and/or in-person talks from administrative law judges, attorneys, union representatives, and others involved in advocating for workers, including attorneys on our staff.

This inspiring series is coordinated by Fran Schreiberg, Of Counsel staff attorney who has made a career safeguarding workers rights on a state and federal level.

Topics include:

Meet Arthur Bryant and Sarah Belton of Public Justice Bryant, President of Public Justice and the Public Justice Foundation, has won major victories and established new precedents in several areas of the law, including constitutional law, toxic torts, civil rights, consumer protection, and mass torts.  The National Law Journal named him one of the 100 Most Influential Attorneys in America. Sarah Beltonjoined the Public Justice Oakland office in June 2013 as the first Cartwright-Baron Attorney. She was previously an Equal Justice Works fellow and a staff attorney at Legal Services for Children in San Francisco, California.

Report Back from Dhaka, Bangladesh Protecting Bangladesh Garment Workers from Factory Fires and Building Collapses with Garrett Brown, MPH, CIH. Brown worked for Cal/OSHA for 20 years as a compliance officer and Headquarters staff, and is now full-time volunteer Coordinator of the Maquiladora Health & Safety Support Network.

Making a Killing: Philip Morris, Kraft and Global Tobacco Addiction with discussion by Ted Pelletier This half-hour film shows how the tobacco giant uses its political power, size and marketing skill to spread tobacco addiction internationally, leaving in its wake a trail of death and disease. Pelletier, Of Counsel to the firm, earlier in his career handled the first two appeals v. Philip Morris and RJ Reynolds in California, and will share some litigation-specific stories of those cases and how they played a part in cracking Tobacco’s long-asserted lack of liability.

Those Who Know Don’t Tell A powerful documentary about the history of the struggle to rid the workplace of occupational hazards, including asbestos.

Meet Kazan Law’s 2014 Summer Asbestos Law Clerks

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2014 asbestos law clerks

Clockwise from top left–Christina Bazak, Anthony Caruthers II, Yuki Cruse, Luis Landeros, Denise Smith, Tenette Smith

Here at Kazan Law our historic focus on asbestos law sets us apart from many other law firms. But as a law firm, we also share certain basic characteristics with other law firms across the country. One is that we proudly sponsor a robust summer law clerk program.

The Kazan, McClain, Satterley & Greenwood Summer Law Clerk Program offers law students the opportunity to gain experience in a plaintiff’s asbestos law practice.  Our summer clerks are fully integrated into the work and life of the firm, with the goal of giving them a realistic view of the rewards and demands of a plaintiff’s practice. Summer law clerks are afforded the opportunity to work with many of our attorneys in a collegial atmosphere, as we prepare and try mesothelioma cases.  Upon graduation from law school, former summer law clerks are given consideration in our hiring process; many current Kazan law attorneys began their careers with the firm as summer law clerks. The list includes:

As summer law clerks here, law students get the invaluable chance to learn by doing. Instead of listening to law professors, taking notes and reading text books, these young people get to do real world law firm tasks such as:

  • Helping draft parts of motions
  • Attending court hearings
  • Assisting in trial preparation
  • Writing legal memorandum
  • Fact checking legal documents

In keeping with the needs of our community and the population we serve, our summer clerks reflect the diverse spectrum of America today. We consider it a duty and a privilege to help educate these bright young future lawyers about truly balancing the scales of justice in the plight of those unlawfully exposed to asbestos by greedy powerful businesses.

Meet our 2014 summer asbestos law clerks:

Christina Bazak is a third year law student at Loyola Marymount University Law School in Los Angeles. She has previous experience working for a judge and a U.S. Senator.

Anthony Caruthers II is a third year law student at the University Of San Francisco School Of Law who takes time from his studies to mentor, coach and tutor at risk youth.

Yuki Cruse is a third year law student at the University Of San Francisco School Of Law who has experience in drafting memoranda for a judge. She is proficient in Japanese.

Luis Landeros is a third year law student at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. He earned his undergraduate degree at Stanford University and is active in outreach efforts to help Latino students.

Denise Smith returns to Kazan Law for a second summer. She is a third year law student at the University of California, Hastings College of Law and volunteers in youth outreach and environmental efforts.

Tenette Smith is a third year law student at the University of San Francisco School of Law. A 2013 Broussard Scholar, she has worked for the Public Defender’s Office in Little Rock, Arkansas and the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego as a court operations clerk. She volunteers for local legal aid groups.

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