Nobody was ever exposed to industrial asbestos on the residential blocks of Drexel Hill. They were exposed at the places Drexel Hill men worked: the Chester waterfront, the Philadelphia Navy Yard, the refineries, and the region’s construction sites. Michael C. Schafle, Esq., whose Philadelphia office sits about half an hour away, represents Delaware County mesothelioma patients and their families in claims built on those work histories, wherever in Pennsylvania they lead.
Where Drexel Hill work histories lead
Upper Darby Township filled up in the early twentieth century as a home for people who worked elsewhere, and elsewhere, for this county, meant some of the heaviest asbestos environments in America. Sun Shipbuilding in Chester put thousands of tradesmen inside hulls packed with insulation. The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard did the same for Navy workers and sailors. Add the Marcus Hook refineries, the Westinghouse turbine plant, and decades of building trades work across the region, and a Drexel Hill retiree’s resume very often includes at least one documented exposure site.
The laundry-room cases
The other Drexel Hill claimant never left the house to be exposed. Shipyard and refinery dust rode home on coveralls, and the wife or daughter who shook them out over the hamper and ran the wash absorbed years of fiber exposure in the process. When mesothelioma is diagnosed in a woman with no industrial career, this is the first question worth asking. Our page on exposure from washing work clothes explains how Pennsylvania law treats these cases and what evidence supports them.
The Philadelphia asbestos docket, close to home
Delaware County families have a particular geographic advantage: the court system that has concentrated Pennsylvania asbestos litigation since 1986 sits next door. Mr. Schafle is counsel on that program, In re: Asbestos Litigation, No. 1986-00001, in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas; our Philadelphia asbestos docket page describes how it functions. Venue is never assumed, though. Each case is filed where its own facts give it the most strength, a decision made after the exposure record is complete rather than before.
Who may file, and by when
Three groups bring these claims: patients themselves, generally within two years of diagnosis under 42 Pa. C.S. § 5524; families of those who have died, generally within two years of the death; and household members whose own diagnosis stems from take-home exposure. In every version, the burden of assembling proof rests on the firm. Green & Schafle, LLC pulls the earnings records, yard and union documents, and coworker testimony; the family contributes memories and signatures. Depositions and meetings can happen at your home when travel is a burden. Compensation can combine lawsuit recoveries with asbestos trust claims, depending on which companies appear in the history; the bankruptcy trust system alone holds roughly $30 billion set aside for claimants, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO-11-819), and many Delaware County work histories qualify for several trusts at once.
What this means for your family
A Drexel Hill diagnosis is rarely a mystery once someone asks the right questions about the working years, and the litigation record around this county’s job sites is deep enough that proof usually exists already. Mr. Schafle co-founded his firm in 2015 and has spent his career in Pennsylvania courtrooms on both sides of injury litigation; Drexel Hill is part of the coverage listed on our Pennsylvania mesothelioma lawyer hub. The review itself is unhurried and free, and it ends with a clear recommendation rather than a pitch.
Have the history looked at properly, and soon: request a free case review and get a direct answer about your family’s claim.