The ACBA is pleased to introduce our newest Leadership Firm*, Kazan McClain Satterley & Greenwood. We are proud of the relationships we have built with law firms throughout the county who are dedicated to working together to enhance the practice of law and the administration of justice in Alameda County.
Helping Asbestos Victims Since 1974
Kazan Law is proud of its record for achieving justice for clients. Since its founding in 1974, Kazan Law has represented thousands of people suffering the impact of asbestos-related illnesses, particularly mesothelioma. Principals of the firm include pioneers in asbestos litigation who are among the most experienced mesothelioma lawyers in California.
The firm recently was recognized for the largest wrongful death jury verdict in California for 2014 by The Recorder. An Alameda County jury returned an $11,800,000 verdict in an asbestos wrongful death suit. This followed a January 2011 verdict in the same case, awarding punitive damages of $9,000,000 along with compensatory damages for pain and suffering; the plaintiff died from mesothelioma in 2011 at age 68, and the wrongful death case followed.
State Supreme Court Victory Helps Protect Public Safety
Kazan Law also has a strong track record for setting legal precedents that not only help their clients but help safeguard the general public. Recently in a case against Ford Motor Company, the California District Court of Appeals ruled that companies are not shielded from punitive damages in California because their headquarters are in another state, and the California Supreme Court let this decision stand.
Ford had tried to sidetrack a judgment Kazan Law won for a client’s mesothelioma caused by asbestos-containing brakes. Ford’s headquarters are in Michigan, a state with no legal punitive damages. But in a precedent-setting decision for asbestos litigation and other types of personal injury law cases, the court agreed with Kazan Law that when a company exposes people to the risks associated with asbestos or any other toxic substance or dangerous product in California, a California jury has the right to apply punitive damages law to the case.
Supporting Mesothelioma Research
Because of Kazan Law’s work with mesothelioma victims, the firm makes it a top priority to help win battles on behalf of all mesothelioma patients in the research laboratory as well as the courtroom. The firm’s charitable foundation has donated over $6 million to support research into the causes of, treatment for, and prevention of mesothelioma.
Mesothelioma is a worldwide problem, so Kazan Law also supports international efforts to coordinate scientific and medical research. The firm has been the leading sponsor for the biennial International Mesothelioma Interest Group Conference since 2006.
Promoting Public Justice
Kazan Law represents everyday people who have been harmed by exposure to asbestos, and is committed to helping people who face other forms of injustice. The firm’s foundation has contributed nearly $15 million to nonprofit legal organizations, including Legal Services For Prisoners With Children, Dolores Street Community Services, Centro Legal de la Raza, East Bay Community Law Center, California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc., and Public Justice, where the firm helps underwrite an attorney.
Striving to improve workplace health and safety is another one of Kazan Law’s goals. Thanks to over a decade of hard work by Kazan Law Of Counsel and pro bono attorney Fran Schreiberg and others dedicated to worker safety, in 2014 California became the first state in the nation to pass a comprehensive toxic protection worker safety law. It will protect workers from toxins in the workplace as new scientific information about the harm they cause comes to light.
Support for ACBA
Kazan Law’s strong emphasis on legal representation for the wronged and disadvantaged includes ongoing participation in ACBA. Kazan Law is a 2014 VLSC Guardian of Justice donor as well as a leadership firm. Kazan Law support ACBA’s role in providing community legal services and improving the administration of justice in Alameda County.
*ACBA Leadership Firms is a program that recognizes and rewards those law firms of ten or more attorneys that have 100% membership in the ACBA (i.e., every one of the firm’s Alameda County attorneys is a member of the ACBA).