Philadelphia is one of the few American cities where a mesothelioma case can be investigated, filed, and tried without leaving town. The court that has handled the region’s asbestos cases since 1986 sits here, the job sites behind most local exposures are here, and Michael C. Schafle, Esq., counsel in that court’s asbestos docket (In re: Asbestos Litigation, No. 1986-00001), works from an office at 2332 South Broad Street, on the same street as City Hall. If you or a parent worked in this city and now face a mesothelioma diagnosis, here is what is local about your case and why it matters.
Where Philadelphians were exposed to asbestos
Three kinds of workplaces account for a large share of the city’s asbestos disease. The first is the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard at the foot of Broad Street, where generations of workers built, repaired, and overhauled Navy ships. The second is the refinery complex along the Schuylkill in South and Southwest Philadelphia. The third is the manufacturing corridor in Nicetown and the surrounding neighborhoods, including the old Midvale Steel works. Asbestos was used through much of the twentieth century in shipbuilding and in the insulation that wrapped boilers, pipes, and industrial equipment (National Cancer Institute, https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/substances/asbestos/asbestos-fact-sheet).
These are not the only sources in the city. Construction trades, powerhouses, and older buildings produced their own cases. A fuller list is in the Pennsylvania asbestos exposure sites library. If your workplace is not there, that does not mean you have no case. It means the research starts with your work history instead of a list.
The court that hears these cases is in this city
The Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas has run a dedicated asbestos program since 1986 under the caption In re: Asbestos Litigation, No. 1986-00001. Cases proceed on a consolidated docket, before judges who see asbestos evidence regularly, under procedures built for this litigation specifically. Michael Schafle is counsel in that docket. You can read more about how the Philadelphia asbestos docket works, but the practical point is short: your case would proceed in a court that has been resolving cases like it for four decades, handled by an attorney who already works there.
Why filing in Philadelphia can matter
Venue is a legal question, decided by where the exposure happened and where the defendant companies do business. For most people exposed in this city, Philadelphia County is a proper forum. A long-running consolidated program brings practical features worth naming plainly: established scheduling, judges familiar with the medicine and the product evidence, and procedures for moving the cases of living patients forward. None of that predicts an outcome in any case. It does mean the machinery for handling yours already exists here.
Secondary exposure is part of Philadelphia’s story
Shipyard and refinery workers carried fibers home on their clothes, and some of today’s patients never held an industrial job themselves. They washed the work clothes, or grew up in the rowhouse where the clothes were washed. The National Cancer Institute recognizes this take-home route of exposure (https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/substances/asbestos/asbestos-fact-sheet). If that is your situation, the case is built from the worker’s employment history rather than your own, and it is handled the same way. More on secondary asbestos exposure.
What this means for your family
Pennsylvania generally allows two years from diagnosis to file (42 Pa. C.S. § 5524). Matching job sites to asbestos products takes time, so an early call protects the deadline without committing you to anything. Meetings happen at your home or at the hospital when travel is hard, there is no fee unless the case recovers money, and Michael represents families across Pennsylvania, not only in this city.
Michael Schafle also keeps a site just for Philadelphia families, mesotheliomalawyerphiladelphiapa.com, with the local exposure history, the deadlines that apply, and the same free case review.
Start with a free case review and he will tell you honestly what your Philadelphia case looks like.