Statute of Limitations
California Code of Civil Procedure § 340.2 provides a 1-year statute of limitations from date of disability or diagnosis for asbestos personal injury claims, but § 340.2(b) extends this to 2 years in most circumstances. California's LAOSD (Los Angeles County Superior Court) and San Francisco County Superior Court maintain active, specialized asbestos dockets with experienced judges. California has pure comparative negligence, favorable for plaintiffs.
2 years from diagnosis (1 year from date of disability if earlier)
Where to File in California
California mesothelioma cases are filed in the plaintiff's county superior court — Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Alameda County courts handle the highest volume. There is no single federal MDL for asbestos; most California claims are litigated in state court alongside claims against 60+ asbestos bankruptcy trusts including the Johns Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust, the W.R. Grace Asbestos PI Trust, and the Owens Corning/Fibreboard Asbestos PI Trust.
California's statute of limitations for mesothelioma is 3 years from the date of diagnosis or discovery that the disease was caused by asbestos exposure. Wrongful death claims must be filed within 3 years of the victim's death. Because mesothelioma has a latency period of 20–50 years, the discovery rule is critical: the clock starts when the patient learns — or reasonably should have learned — the asbestos link.
Los Angeles Superior Court's Complex Civil Litigation program and San Francisco Superior Court have long coordinated asbestos dockets. California's JCCP 4674 (Asbestos Coordination Proceeding) centralizes pre-trial proceedings for cases statewide, streamlining discovery against major defendants such as Honeywell, Union Carbide, and 3M.
California's dominant exposure industries include shipbuilding (Mare Island, Long Beach, San Diego Naval Shipyard), oil refining (Richmond, El Segundo), aerospace manufacturing, and construction trades statewide. The state's extensive military base network — Camp Pendleton, Travis AFB, Naval Base San Diego — produced substantial Navy and Air Force veteran exposure claims.
Exposure in California
Source: California Cancer Registry 2024
Source: NIOSH State Occupational Data
Source: San Francisco County Superior Court Verdict Records
Clinics & Specialists in California
UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center — Thoracic Oncology
UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center
City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center
Your Legal Team
Linda Nakamura
Partner
San Francisco, CA
Linda Nakamura is one of California's leading mesothelioma attorneys, with a particular focus on Navy veteran cases and complex multi-defendant litigation in the Northern District of California's active asbestos docket. Over 22 years, she has represented over 800 mesothelioma families, developing deep expertise in trust fund portfolio maximization — identifying all applicable trusts, optimizing claim sequencing, and coordinating trust fund distributions with civil settlements to maximize total family recovery. Linda has been recognized by the San Francisco Examiner as one of the Bay Area's top plaintiffs' attorneys and is a regular panelist at the American Association for Justice annual convention's toxic tort track. Her technical knowledge of shipbuilding history, Navy vessel specifications, and industrial insulation products enables her to reconstruct exposure histories with exceptional precision.
Education
- J.D., UC Berkeley School of Law, Boalt Hall (2004)
- B.A., Political Science, Stanford University (2001)