A mesothelioma lawyer in Pittsburgh sorts out two very different paths to compensation — asbestos bankruptcy trust claims and civil lawsuits — and says plainly which one fits a family's situation before anything gets signed. Most families calling from a UPMC Hillman Cancer Center room or an Allegheny General waiting area have never heard of a bankruptcy trust and assume a lawsuit is the only option; often it isn't the fastest one.
A mesothelioma lawyer in Pittsburgh is a personal injury attorney who traces a diagnosis back to asbestos exposure at a mill, shipyard, or union job site in Allegheny County and then pursues compensation through an asbestos bankruptcy trust, a civil lawsuit, or both.
Focused representation for Pittsburgh & Allegheny County — each matter handled with the same diligence, discretion, and preparation.
Filing against the specific bankruptcy trusts tied to the insulation, refractory brick, or gasket suppliers that once served Pittsburgh-area mills and plants — each trust has its own payment schedule and exposure criteria, so matching the right trust to the right job site matters more than filing quickly.
Learn more →Civil litigation against a solvent manufacturer, supplier, or premises owner when the responsible party never filed bankruptcy — filed in Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas near the Allegheny County Courthouse when venue and exposure history support it.
Learn more →Filed by a spouse or adult child after a mesothelioma death, covering the same trust-and-lawsuit analysis but on the estate's behalf and within a separate filing deadline than a living claimant faces.
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Assistance connecting a Navy, shipyard, or boiler-room service record to VA disability compensation for asbestos-related disease, run alongside — not instead of — any trust or lawsuit claim.
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Locating decades-old employment, union local, and site records from mills, shipyards, and power plants around McKeesport, Duquesne, and the Mon Valley so an exposure history can actually be proven rather than recalled from memory alone.
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Many tradesmen worked near multiple asbestos products on the same job — insulation, gaskets, and refractory brick from different manufacturers — so several trust claims often get filed together for one exposure history instead of one at a time.
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Meeting a patient or family at UPMC Hillman, Allegheny General, or a home anywhere in Allegheny County, so a family already managing treatment and travel doesn't add an office visit on top of it.
Learn more →Handling claims for a spouse or family member diagnosed after years of washing a tradesman's work clothes — a recognized exposure path with its own proof requirements separate from direct occupational exposure.
Learn more →You deserve to know exactly who is handling your case. Verify our credentials for yourself.
Admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania · Bar No. 94298. Pennsylvania (January 12, 2005)
Verify →Temple University Beasley School of Law · 2004
A mesothelioma lawyer in Pittsburgh is a personal injury attorney who traces a diagnosis back to asbestos exposure at a mill, shipyard, or union job site in Allegheny County and then pursues compensation through an asbestos bankruptcy trust, a civil lawsuit, or both.
Tell us what happened. You'll get a straight answer about your options in Pittsburgh — no cost, no obligation, and nothing leaves this office.
Not a call center, not a hand-off to a paralegal. The Pittsburgh attorney who takes your case is the one who handles it.
On contingency matters you pay nothing up front — our fee comes out of the recovery only if we win. If we don't, you owe us nothing.
If a family wants the fastest possible payout and the exposure traces to a company that already went through bankruptcy — many former insulation and refractory suppliers to mills like Jones & Laughlin Steel did — a trust claim is usually the first move. If the exposure traces to a company that never filed bankruptcy and is still operating or was acquired by a solvent parent, a lawsuit may be the only route to compensation, and it should be evaluated alongside any trust claims rather than instead of them. If a veteran was exposed aboard a Navy ship or at a shipyard like the former Dravo Corporation site on Neville Island, VA disability benefits run on a separate track and can be pursued at the same time as a civil claim without one reducing the other. The trade-off is speed versus size: trust claims often pay in months and are capped by a payment schedule, while lawsuits can take a year or more but aren't capped the same way. Because a mesothelioma diagnosis often comes with a compressed timeline, filing both a trust claim and, where applicable, a lawsuit in parallel is standard practice rather than picking one and waiting to see how it goes.
No confusing rate sheets. Your first conversation is always free.
Every case starts with a free, confidential consultation. No cost, no obligation — just a clear answer about where you stand and what your options are.
On contingency matters you pay nothing up front. Our fee comes out of the recovery only if we win your case — if we don't, you owe us nothing.
Tell us what happened and we'll get back to you quickly — usually the same day. Everything you share is confidential, and there's no cost to speak with a Pittsburgh attorney.
(412) 674-9715Pittsburgh's asbestos exposure history is tied directly to its industrial map: Jones & Laughlin Steel's mills along the Monongahela, U.S. Steel's Homestead Works near what is now the Carrie Furnaces National Historic Landmark, and Dravo Corporation's shipbuilding operation on Neville Island all used insulation, refractory brick, and gaskets containing asbestos well into the 1970s. Tradesmen from McKeesport, Duquesne, and the Mon Valley who worked as pipefitters, boilermakers, or laborers in those plants are still being diagnosed decades later, often after a routine chest X-ray or a VA exam turns up a lung finding. Cases filed in Allegheny County move through the Allegheny County Courthouse downtown, and because so many of the responsible suppliers went bankrupt in the 1980s and 2000s, a large share of Pittsburgh-area claims resolve through trust funds rather than a courtroom — which is exactly why sorting trust eligibility from lawsuit eligibility early, before a filing deadline gets close, is the most useful first step for a family in this region.
Free, confidential consultations for Pittsburgh & the surrounding area.
Michael Schafle (PA Bar ID 94298) is a Pennsylvania mesothelioma lawyer based at 2332 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19145. He represents mesothelioma patients and families across Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, and southeastern Pennsylvania — meeting clients at home or in the hospital when travel is hard.
In 2023, Michael Schafle resolved two multi-million-dollar mesothelioma settlements — including a $3,000,000+ wrongful-death recovery for a family that lost a loved one, and a $3,000,000+ recovery for a laborer exposed to asbestos on the job. Every case is different, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Read the full profile of Pennsylvania mesothelioma lawyer Michael Schafle, or call (412) 674-9715 for a free, confidential case review.
Michael Schafle, Esq.