Illinois Asbestos & Mesothelioma Lawsuits: Deadlines, Claims, and Legal Options

From the steel mills of Granite City that supplied America's railroads to Chicago's towering skyscrapers built with asbestos-laden materials, Illinois workers have paid a devastating price for building the industrial heart of America. Our comprehensive database documents over 6,000 asbestos exposure sites across 721 Illinois communities—from Commonwealth Edison's nuclear facilities downstate to the massive Caterpillar manufacturing complexes in Peoria that supplied heavy machinery worldwide.

Illinois offers some of the nation's most favorable legal protections for mesothelioma families. The state places no caps on compensation for pain and suffering, follows pure comparative negligence rules that protect partially at-fault plaintiffs, and has courts that consistently stand with workers against corporate defendants. Illinois's two-year discovery rule and extensive industrial history provide strong foundations for successful cases.

Time is critical. Illinois's two-year discovery rule means your family's deadline to file began when you learned your illness was caused by asbestos exposure. Don't let corporate defendants benefit from delay—your family deserves experienced advocates who know how to maximize Illinois's favorable legal environment.

This page is part of our broader mission. I started this firm after learning that the cancers that killed my father and grandparents were caused by asbestos—something we didn't realize until it was too late to hold anyone accountable. That experience is why we built this site: to make sure no other family misses their chance.

— Firm Founder, Justinian Lane

If you're trying to make sense of complex legal and medical terms, our Asbestos Lexicon explains the terminology in plain English. For a deeper understanding of how mesothelioma lawsuits actually work—from proving liability to calculating damages—visit our Complete Guide to Mesothelioma Lawsuits.

Free Case Review | No Fees Unless We Win | Call 833-4-ASBESTOS

Illinois Asbestos Law Summary

Illinois Asbestos Law Details

Illinois asbestos lawsuits are governed by well-established tort law principles, a discovery-based statute of limitations, and a unique approach to joint liability and damages. The state permits both wrongful death and survival actions, allows full recovery of economic and noneconomic damages, and imposes no cap on compensatory or punitive damages in asbestos cases. While Illinois generally follows the federal Daubert standard for expert testimony, its courts maintain flexibility in evaluating long-accepted asbestos science. Joint and several liability applies in limited cases, and defendants may be held fully liable for medical costs, lost wages, and pain and suffering when their conduct played a substantial role.

Statutes of Limitations and Repose

Illinois imposes a two-year statute of limitations for both personal injury and wrongful death claims arising from asbestos exposure.

• Personal Injury: Must be filed within two years from the date of accrual, meaning the date on which the claimant knew or should have known that asbestos exposure caused the illness (735 ILCS 5/13-202).

• Wrongful Death: Must be filed within two years from the decedent’s death (740 ILCS 180/2). However, if the decedent would not have been eligible to sue at the time of death (due to time-barred claims), the wrongful death claim is also barred (Varelis v. Nw. Mem’l Hosp., 167 Ill. 2d 449 (1995)).

Illinois also imposes a ten-year statute of repose for asbestos-related product liability claims, starting from the date of first sale or delivery (735 ILCS 5/13-213(b)). There is a four-year construction statute of repose and a ten-year bar for design and construction defect claims (735 ILCS 5/13-214(a), (b)).

Eligibility to Sue

People diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases in Illinois may sue responsible parties, including manufacturers, distributors, contractors, and premises owners. After death, wrongful death claims may be brought by the decedent’s personal representative on behalf of the surviving spouse and next of kin (740 ILCS 180/2). If there are no eligible family members, recovery may be limited to the estate or providers of last illness care.

Survival actions are permitted under 755 ILCS 5/27-6, allowing recovery for damages the decedent incurred before death, such as pain and suffering, lost wages, and medical bills.

Workers’ Compensation Limitations

Under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act, employees generally cannot sue their employer for asbestos-related illnesses if the injury arose out of and in the course of employment. This immunity is codified at 820 ILCS 305/5(a) and historically provided employers with broad protection—even in cases of asbestos exposure.

However, the Illinois Appellate Court's 2024 decision in Martin v. Goodrich Corp. significantly clarified the limits of that immunity. The court held that the exclusivity provision does not bar a civil lawsuit where the plaintiff alleges that the employer intentionally delayed diagnosis or misrepresented medical findings, thereby worsening the employee’s injury after the employment relationship ended.

This ruling opens the door for employees—or their estates—to sue former employers in civil court if they can show that the employer engaged in post-employment misconduct, such as:

• Fraudulent concealment of medical test results

• Intentional delay in communicating asbestos-related diagnoses

• Other conduct that aggravated the injury beyond what was caused by the workplace exposure alone

Third-party claims remain unaffected. Injured workers can still sue product manufacturers, property owners, or other non-employers responsible for their asbestos exposure.

Employers brought into asbestos litigation as third-party defendants are still protected by the Kotecki cap (from Kotecki v. Cyclops Welding Corp., 146 Ill. 2d 155 (1991)), which limits employer contribution to the amount paid in workers’ compensation benefits.

Damages and Caps

Illinois allows asbestos plaintiffs to recover both economic and noneconomic damages in personal injury, wrongful death, and survival actions. There is no general cap on economic or noneconomic damages in asbestos cases. Plaintiffs may be awarded full compensation for medical expenses, lost income, loss of household services, and other quantifiable financial losses. Likewise, damages for pain and suffering, loss of companionship, and emotional distress are not capped by statute in most asbestos claims.

Punitive damages are permitted in Illinois when the defendant’s conduct is shown to involve actual malice, fraud, oppression, or conscious disregard for the safety of others. Plaintiffs must seek leave of court to pursue punitive damages by filing a motion under 735 ILCS 5/2-604.1. In 2023, the Illinois legislature expanded the availability of punitive damages, amending both 740 ILCS 180/1 (Wrongful Death Act) and 755 ILCS 5/27-6 (Survival Act) to explicitly allow punitive damages in wrongful death and survival actions. This change overturned decades of prior Illinois case law, including Marston v. Walgreen Co., 389 Ill. App. 3d 337 (2009), which had previously barred such recoveries.

Comparative Fault and Joint Liability

Illinois follows a modified comparative negligence rule:

• If a plaintiff is more than 50% at fault, recovery is barred

• If 50% or less at fault, damages are reduced proportionally (735 ILCS 5/2-1116).

Illinois has partial joint and several liability:

• Defendants are jointly and severally liable for medical costs regardless of fault percentage

• For non-medical damages, a defendant is only jointly liable if their share of fault is 25% or greater (735 ILCS 5/2-1117).

Settling defendants are not counted in fault apportionment (Ready v. United/Goedecke Servs., Inc., 232 Ill. 2d 369 (2008)).

Collateral Source Rule

Illinois continues to apply the collateral source rule in a plaintiff-friendly manner. Under the Illinois Supreme Court’s decision in Wills v. Foster, 229 Ill. 2d 393 (2008), plaintiffs may recover the full amount billed for medical services, regardless of whether a private insurer or government program paid a lower amount. However, statutory exceptions apply to certain cases involving licensed hospitals and physicians, particularly under 735 ILCS 5/2-1205 and 2-1205.1, which may allow for reductions in non-intentional tort cases under specific conditions.

Standards of Proof and Causation

To succeed in an asbestos-related lawsuit in Illinois, a plaintiff must establish that the defendant owed a duty of care, breached that duty, and that the breach was both the actual and legal cause of the plaintiff’s injury. This is the traditional tort framework codified in Illinois law and applied in cases such as Cunis v. Brennan, 56 Ill. 2d 372 (1974).

Illinois courts recognize two layers of causation. First, the plaintiff must prove cause in fact—that the injury would not have occurred but for the defendant’s conduct. Second, the plaintiff must show legal cause, meaning that the injury was a foreseeable result of the defendant’s actions. This dual framework was clarified in First Springfield Bank & Trust v. Galman, 188 Ill. 2d 252 (1999), where the Illinois Supreme Court emphasized that proximate cause incorporates both factual causation and a foreseeability analysis.

Expert testimony is commonly required in mesothelioma cases and other medically complex asbestos claims. While Illinois does not follow the federal Daubert standard, its courts do apply a relevance-and-reliability test. Under Advincula v. United Blood Services, 176 Ill. 2d 1 (1996), expert testimony must be grounded in sufficient experience and training, and must conform to the skill and care exercised by an ordinarily careful professional in similar circumstances. Judges in Illinois serve as gatekeepers, but with a more lenient threshold than in jurisdictions that strictly apply Daubert.

How Illinois Law Works in Practice

Meet Leonard, a 70-year-old retired machinist who spent most of his career working in factories across southern Illinois. From the 1970s through the early 1990s, Leonard regularly maintained equipment that used asbestos gaskets, brakes, and insulation. In April 2024, he was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma after months of weight loss and difficulty breathing.

Under Illinois law, Leonard has two years from the date he knew or should have known that his illness was caused by asbestos exposure to file a lawsuit. Because he was formally diagnosed in April 2024, and immediately connected it to his past occupational history, his attorneys calculate his filing deadline as April 2026, pursuant to the state’s discovery-based statute of limitations.

Because Leonard’s exposure occurred in the 1980s, his attorneys must also consider Illinois’ 10-year statute of repose for product liability claims. Fortunately, that period does not bar asbestos lawsuits where the harm could not reasonably have been discovered earlier, especially for diseases like mesothelioma that take decades to appear. The same case may involve multiple parties, including product manufacturers, premises owners, and distributors. If any of these defendants were part of a construction project, Leonard’s legal team must also navigate a 4-year construction repose period—though exceptions may apply.

If Leonard had passed away from mesothelioma before filing suit, his personal representative could file both a wrongful death claim and a survival action on behalf of the estate. Under recent amendments to the Illinois Wrongful Death Act and Survival Act, his family could even pursue punitive damages in both types of claims—something Illinois law prohibited until 2023.

Because Leonard received workers’ compensation benefits from a former employer, that employer is shielded from direct suit under Illinois law. But his lawyers can still file suit against third parties. And if the former employer is named as a third-party defendant, its financial responsibility is limited by the Kotecki cap, which ties employer liability to the amount of workers’ comp benefits already paid.

To prove causation, Leonard’s attorneys must show that asbestos exposure was both a cause in fact and a proximate cause of his disease. Expert witnesses will testify that his cumulative exposures from multiple products and jobsites substantially contributed to his illness. In Illinois, courts expect expert testimony to be based on sound methodology, but do not apply the federal Daubert standard, making the state comparatively more permissive in allowing medical evidence.

Leonard may recover the full value of his economic and noneconomic damages, including medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Illinois does not cap these damages. And because Wills v. Foster allows recovery of the full billed amount of medical expenses, Leonard’s award won’t be reduced just because Medicare or insurance paid a lower rate. If his legal team can also show that any company acted with fraud or conscious disregard for safety, Leonard may be awarded punitive damages, as long as the court grants pretrial approval.

This is a hypothetical example based on real Illinois law. Every case is unique. If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, call 833-4-ASBESTOS to find out how Illinois law may apply to your situation.

Why Choose Our Firm to Handle Your Family's Illinois Mesothelioma Case?

Our proprietary database contains detailed records of over 6,000 asbestos exposure sites across 721 Illinois communities—from Chicago's corporate towers to Peoria's industrial complexes. While other firms spend months investigating your exposure history, we often know within days which companies owe you compensation.

The Result? Faster trust claims, stronger lawsuits, and maximum recovery for your Illinois family—because we've already done much of the detective work your case requires.

Learn more about our firm and our database

Illinois Database Highlights:

If you or someone in your family has been diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease, our firm can begin helping your family today. Here's how:

Asbestos Trust Claims

Hundreds of companies have set aside billions specifically for asbestos victims. These claims often resolve faster than lawsuits and don't require going to court. Our Illinois database contains detailed records of which trust-affiliated companies supplied materials to over 3,000 sites across the state—from Chicago's high-rises to Peoria's industrial plants.

For example, if you worked at Commonwealth Edison's Dresden Nuclear Plant, our database immediately shows that Pittsburgh Corning supplied insulation there. Instead of spending months investigating your exposure, we can file your Pittsburgh Corning trust claim within days of meeting you.

Asbestos Lawsuits

You can hold companies accountable through Illinois's favorable court system, which places no caps on pain and suffering compensation. Our database strengthens your case with documented evidence and court precedents from Illinois worksites. We don't just argue you were exposed—we can cite specific depositions and trial records that already established liability at your workplace.

When we represented a worker from U.S. Steel's Granite City plant, we didn't start from scratch. Our database contained decades of court records showing exactly which defendants' products were used there, helping us get a head start on building the case.

Asbestos Disability Claims

Both Social Security and VA benefits provide monthly income while you pursue other compensation options. These are benefits you've already earned, and our specialized military database is particularly powerful for veterans. We've documented asbestos use across Navy ships, Air Force bases, and Army installations with unprecedented detail.

Learn more about the legal options available to your family

Ready to Pursue Your Illinois Mesothelioma Case?

Whether you were exposed to asbestos in Chicago's industrial districts, downstate power plants, or any of Illinois's documented exposure sites, our experienced mesothelioma team is ready to fight for your rights.

Why Time Matters in Illinois:

• Two-year filing deadline from diagnosis under Illinois's discovery rule

• Multiple trust claims may be available beyond your lawsuit

• No damage caps on economic or noneconomic damages in Illinois

• Evidence preservation becomes more difficult as time passes

What We'll Do for Your Family:

• Free case evaluation to determine all available compensation sources

• Immediate trust claim filings using our proprietary database of Illinois exposure sites

• Aggressive lawsuit preparation against manufacturers and premises owners

• Maximum recovery strategy taking advantage of Illinois's favorable damage laws

Get started today. Our Illinois mesothelioma team has recovered millions for families across the state, and we're ready to put that experience to work for you.

Free Case Review | No Fees Unless We Win | Call 833-4-ASBESTOS