This guide compares 10 law firms that handle mesothelioma and asbestos claims for Cleveland-area residents. Six have offices in Cleveland or its suburbs, and four are national asbestos firms with documented Cuyahoga County case results and dedicated Cleveland practice pages. Each firm was evaluated on the depth of its asbestos practice, documented results from Cleveland and Cuyahoga County cases, experience with the full range of recovery routes (lawsuits, asbestos bankruptcy trust claims, workers’ compensation, and VA benefits), and how easily a Cleveland client can reach the firm in person.
Cleveland’s industrial past is the backdrop for nearly every case on this list. Steel mills like Republic Steel, LTV Steel, and U.S. Steel’s Lorain works; the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company; Fisher Body and Ford’s Cleveland plant; and the city’s hospitals and universities all appear repeatedly in the exposure histories these firms investigate. Ohio law generally gives a mesothelioma patient two years from diagnosis to sue, so acting quickly matters.
1. Kelley Ferraro, LLC
- Attorney/Key Figure: James L. Ferraro, Equity Partner
- Headquarters: 950 Main Avenue, Suite 1300, Cleveland, OH 44113
- Phone: 216-575-0777
- Website: kelleyferraro.com
- Practice Areas: Asbestos and mesothelioma (including peritoneal mesothelioma, asbestos-related cancers, and workers’ compensation for asbestos disease), dangerous drugs and products, personal injury, water contamination, wills and probate
- Firm Size: Mid-size trial firm with nearly 30 years of mesothelioma experience and more than $1 billion recovered for clients
- Practice Area Page: Cleveland Mesothelioma Lawyer
About the Firm: Kelley Ferraro is headquartered in downtown Cleveland and has spent close to three decades representing mesothelioma victims against asbestos manufacturers, distributors, employers, and property owners across the city. The firm’s mesothelioma content is reviewed by equity partner James L. Ferraro, and its team includes partners such as Ryan Cavanaugh and Joyce Chambers Reichard, who try cases in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas.
What sets the firm apart is the size of its verdict record on Cleveland soil and its willingness to take cases other firms turn down. Its published results include an $8.2 million mesothelioma verdict in Cleveland in 2018 and a $10.6 million verdict for the widow of a mesothelioma victim in the firm’s first post-pandemic jury trial. Its lawyers are known for the heavy research these cases demand, reviewing decades of employment records to pinpoint the most likely exposure source at Cleveland-area steel mills, shipyards, and factories. The firm also pursues workers’ compensation alongside civil claims. Recognition includes the National Trial Lawyers Top 100, Super Lawyers, National Board of Trial Advocacy, and Million Dollar Advocates Forum.
2. McDermott & Hickey, LLC
- Attorney/Key Figure: Kevin McDermott, Founder; Christopher “Chip” Hickey, Attorney
- Headquarters: 20525 Center Ridge Road, Suite 200, Rocky River, OH 44116 (additional offices in Avon, Cleveland, and Mentor)
- Phone: (216) 712-7452 (toll-free (877) 303-6379)
- Website: mesohio.com
- Practice Areas: Mesothelioma and asbestos injuries (asbestosis, lung cancer, family member exposure, Navy and maritime exposure, railroad exposure, products containing asbestos), workers’ compensation, wrongful death, personal injury, defective drugs, benzene exposure, Camp Lejeune
- Firm Size: Boutique firm with five attorneys and more than 30 years focused on asbestos injury
About the Firm: McDermott & Hickey operates four offices ringing Cleveland, in Rocky River, Avon, Cleveland proper, and Mentor, and builds its entire practice around asbestos injury. Founder Kevin McDermott has represented the sick and injured for over three decades, and Chip Hickey has represented hundreds of mesothelioma clients and is praised by other attorneys for his command of asbestos procedure specifically in the Cuyahoga County courts. Attorney Anthony Gallucci has negotiated the resolution of thousands of asbestos cases with national manufacturers.
The firm describes a three-part strategy for every client: asbestos bankruptcy trust claims, a workers’ compensation claim, and settlements or lawsuits against the companies still in litigation. Its lawyers will travel anywhere in the Cleveland area, including to a client’s home or hospital room. The trade-off of a boutique is bench size, and for exposure that happened outside Ohio the firm relies on a network of co-counsel around the country rather than its own out-of-state attorneys.
3. Goldberg Legal Co., LPA
- Attorney/Key Figure: Steven M. Goldberg, Founder
- Headquarters: 31300 Solon Road, Suite 12, Solon, OH 44139 (additional offices in Cleveland, Youngstown, and Cincinnati)
- Phone: (440) 519-9900
- Website: goldberg-legal.com
- Practice Areas: Mesothelioma and asbestos litigation, medical malpractice, defective drugs and medical devices, mass torts, catastrophic personal injury, auto and truck accidents, wrongful death
- Firm Size: Small litigation firm founded in 1989, with more than 35 years of practice
About the Firm: Steven Goldberg founded the firm in 1989 in Solon, a Cleveland suburb, and maintains a Cleveland office as well. He has litigated complex civil cases in Ohio state courts, federal district courts, and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, with asbestos-related mesothelioma suits among his core areas. He has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America, named Lawyer of the Year for product liability litigation, and holds a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent rating.
The firm’s mesothelioma results include a multimillion-dollar settlement for the family of a plumber who developed the disease after decades of exposure at job sites across several states. The firm also has a long-standing commitment to union trades workers, a group that makes up a large share of claims from Cleveland’s industrial and construction unions. Mesothelioma is one part of a broad practice that also covers malpractice and drug litigation, so Cleveland clients get a generalist trial lawyer’s range rather than an asbestos-only boutique.
4. Sokolove Law
- Attorney/Key Figure: Ricky A. LeBlanc, Managing Attorney
- Headquarters: 1330 Boylston Street, Suite 400, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467 (Cleveland-area office: 25285 Penshurst Drive, Beachwood, OH 44122)
- Phone: (800) 647-3434 (Beachwood office: (440) 941-0961)
- Website: sokolovelaw.com
- Practice Areas: Mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, talcum powder claims, birth injuries, nursing home abuse, product liability, dangerous drugs
- Firm Size: Large national firm with offices in more than 40 locations and more than 45 years of asbestos experience
About the Firm: Sokolove Law maintains a dedicated office in Beachwood, a Cleveland suburb in Cuyahoga County, and has handled more than 9,500 asbestos claims nationwide since 1979. The firm reports more than $230 million recovered for Ohio clients overall, and its asbestos database covers more than 7,000 Ohio work sites, including the steel mills and manufacturing plants that once ringed Cleveland. Among the firm’s reported verdicts is a $27.5 million take-home asbestos verdict awarded by a Cuyahoga County jury to an English teacher who developed mesothelioma from his father’s work clothes, one of the largest asbestos awards in Ohio history.
The firm employs registered nurses, investigators, and VA-accredited attorneys, useful for the many veterans in the Cleveland area who served near the Coast Guard’s Cleveland base or Lake Erie shipyards. It states that in most cases it co-counsels with other attorneys for principal responsibility, so a client may work day to day with a partner firm rather than Sokolove attorneys directly.
5. The Lyon Firm
- Attorney/Key Figure: Joseph M. Lyon, Managing Attorney
- Headquarters: 2754 Erie Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45208 (Cleveland office: 6105 Parkland Boulevard, Mayfield Heights, OH 44124)
- Phone: (513) 381-2333 (Cleveland office: 800-513-2403)
- Website: thelyonfirm.com
- Practice Areas: Asbestos and mesothelioma, class actions, product liability, toxic exposure, environmental contamination, catastrophic injury
- Firm Size: Boutique firm based in Cincinnati with a dedicated Cleveland office, in business since 2003
About the Firm: The Lyon Firm maintains a dedicated Cleveland-area office in Mayfield Heights and represents Ohio workers employed by the rubber and tire, steel, auto, printing, and chemical companies that defined the region’s economy. Led by Joe Lyon, who is listed in Super Lawyers for products liability and class action and mass tort work, the firm notes it can hold negligent Cleveland-area employers accountable for exposure that also reached workers in Akron, Mansfield, Youngstown, Warren, and Canton.
The firm’s published asbestos results include a $2.7 million recovery for a surviving spouse in a mesothelioma case tied to steel mill work and a $2.3 million mesothelioma settlement. It also maintains pages on specific exposure sources tied to the region, such as the William Powell valve company. Because asbestos is one of several toxic tort and class action areas the firm handles, and its lead attorney is based in Cincinnati, Cleveland clients should expect their case to be run substantially out of the Cincinnati office with local counsel support.
6. Kisling, Nestico & Redick, LLC (KNR)
- Attorney/Key Figure: John Reagan, Asbestos & Mesothelioma Attorney
- Headquarters: 3412 W. Market Street, Fairlawn, OH 44333 (Cleveland office: 1111 Superior Avenue, Suite 520, Cleveland, OH 44114)
- Phone: 1-800-HURT-NOW (800-487-8669); Cleveland office: 216-658-1330
- Website: knrlegal.com
- Practice Areas: Asbestos and mesothelioma, car and truck accidents, medical malpractice, premises liability, product liability, workers’ compensation, catastrophic injuries
- Firm Size: Large personal injury firm with 12 offices across Ohio and more than 20 years of statewide practice
About the Firm: KNR is one of Ohio’s largest personal injury firms, with a dedicated Cleveland office on Superior Avenue downtown. The firm notes that over $30 billion remains available in asbestos trust funds created when asbestos companies filed for bankruptcy, and it works to determine a Cleveland client’s eligibility for both a trust claim and a lawsuit. KNR is Best Lawyers-recognized and holds a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent rating, with attorney John Reagan among its asbestos and mesothelioma practitioners.
As a 12-office statewide firm handling car accidents, truck accidents, and other personal injury matters alongside asbestos claims, KNR brings significant resources and local presence but not the asbestos-only focus of a boutique firm like Kelley Ferraro or McDermott & Hickey. For Cleveland clients who want a firm with deep local roots and the staffing of a large practice, that trade-off may be worth it.
7. Early, Lucarelli, Sweeney & Meisenkothen (ELSM)
- Attorney/Key Figure: Jennifer Lucarelli, Partner; Kyle Navin, Attorney
- Headquarters: One Century Tower, 11th Floor, 265 Church Street, New Haven, CT 06510 (additional offices in New York, Washington, D.C., Torrance, St. Peters, New Orleans, Orlando, and Edwardsville)
- Phone: 800-336-0086
- Website: elslaw.com
- Practice Areas: Mesothelioma and asbestos litigation, asbestos trust funds, workers’ compensation, VA benefits
- Firm Size: Large national asbestos firm with more than 40 years of experience and over $5.6 billion secured for clients
About the Firm: ELSM is a Connecticut-based firm that concentrates entirely on mesothelioma and asbestos, with documented experience in Cleveland’s industrial exposure sites. The firm’s Ohio page lists the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company, J&L Steel, LTV Steel, NASA Cleveland, Republic Steel, and Cleveland’s shipping and shipbuilding industry among its investigated jobsites, and its attorneys report clients in Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, Lakewood, Euclid, and Garfield Heights.
Partner Jennifer Lucarelli and attorney Kyle Navin have represented hundreds of mesothelioma clients across Ohio. The firm’s Ohio settlement list includes individual recoveries for Cleveland-area tradespeople, and it holds a Best Law Firms National Tier 1 ranking for 2026 along with an AV Preeminent rating. ELSM has no Cleveland office, so its attorneys travel to clients or meet by phone, a real difference for families who prefer an in-person local firm.
8. Simmons Hanly Conroy
- Attorney/Key Figure: Kenneth P. Danzinger, Partner (Cleveland practice)
- Headquarters: One Court Street, Alton, IL 62002 (New York office: 112 Madison Avenue, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10016)
- Phone: (800) 326-8900
- Website: simmonsfirm.com
- Practice Areas: Mesothelioma and asbestos, dangerous drugs and medical devices, environmental litigation, consumer protection, business torts
- Firm Size: Large national firm with more than 100 attorneys and offices in several states
About the Firm: Simmons Hanly Conroy maintains a dedicated Cleveland practice page, led by partner Kenneth P. Danzinger, who focuses on Cleveland-area families affected by asbestos-related disease. Founded in 1999, the firm reports more than $10.6 billion in asbestos recoveries nationwide and has helped over 8,900 families. Its Cleveland page lists a long roster of documented local exposure sites, including 3M, Alcoa, American Steel & Wire, Case Western Reserve University, the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Plant, Fairview Hospital, Ford Motor Company, Republic Steel, and U.S. Steel Corporation.
Reported Cleveland-area settlements include $4.2 million for a laborer in Canton, $5 million for a clerical worker in Peninsula, $2.9 million for a union sheet metal worker in Seven Hills, and $1.18 million for a U.S. Air Force veteran and aircraft mechanic in Cleveland itself. Each senior attorney works within a small team of lawyers, staff, and registered nurses. The firm has no Cleveland office, so representation runs through travel and remote meetings backed by its national resources.
9. The Lanier Law Firm
- Attorney/Key Figure: Case A. Dam, Senior Attorney, Mesothelioma and Asbestos Exposure
- Headquarters: 10940 W. Sam Houston Parkway N., Suite 100, Houston, TX 77064 (additional offices in New York, Los Angeles, and Fort Worth)
- Phone: 800-723-3216
- Website: lanierlawfirm.com
- Practice Areas: Mesothelioma and asbestos, personal injury, product liability, pharmaceutical liability, business litigation
About the Firm: Mark Lanier founded the firm in 1990, and its Ohio practice is anchored by senior attorney Case A. Dam, who has taken multiple mesothelioma cases to verdict and researched the asbestos industry extensively. The firm has won nearly $20 billion in settlements and verdicts across its national practice and documents a detailed list of historically asbestos-exposing Cleveland employers, including Aluminum Co. of America, Cleveland Pneumatic Tool, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Corrigan McKenney Steel, Fisher Body, LTV Steel, Otis Steel, Republic Steel, U.S. Steel in Lorain, and White Motor Company.
The firm’s Ohio results include a $2.8 million recovery for a resident who developed mesothelioma from secondary asbestos exposure to her husband’s work clothes, and a $2.1 million recovery for the family of a pipefitter, millwright, welder, and auto mechanic. As a Texas firm with a wide national practice, it has no Cleveland office, so representation runs through travel, private investigators, and remote meetings.
10. Simon Greenstone Panatier, PC
- Attorney/Key Figure: Jeffrey B. Simon and David C. Greenstone, Founders
- Headquarters: 901 Main Street, Suite 5900, Dallas, TX 75202 (additional offices in Los Angeles, New York, and Houston)
- Website: sgptrial.com
- Practice Areas: Mesothelioma, cosmetic talc claims, catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death, product liability, pharmaceutical litigation, toxic torts
- Firm Size: Large trial firm with roughly 30 plaintiff attorneys, founded in 2006
About the Firm: Simon Greenstone Panatier was founded by lawyers who came out of a large Dallas firm that handled primarily mesothelioma cases, and its asbestos department handles cases across the country, including traditional industrial exposure and asbestos-contaminated cosmetic talc. The firm’s Greater Cleveland record includes a $12.1 million verdict in 2021 for an 83-year-old Korean War veteran who developed mesothelioma from asbestos-containing packing material, secured by a Lorain County jury, made up of a jury award plus punitive damages added by the trial judge.
The firm was named a Best Law Firm in 2025 by The Best Lawyers in America and is frequently retained by other lawyers to lead the most serious cases. It has no Cleveland office, so a family choosing it should expect out-of-state trial counsel rather than a local practice, though its Lorain County verdict shows it is willing to try cases in the greater Cleveland court system when needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to file a mesothelioma lawsuit in Cleveland?
Ohio law generally gives a mesothelioma patient two years to file a personal injury lawsuit, and the clock usually starts at diagnosis rather than at the time of exposure, under the discovery rule in Ohio Revised Code Section 2305.10. Families generally have two years from the date of death to bring a wrongful death claim. Asbestos trust fund claims follow separate deadlines set by each trust, which is why firms such as ELSM and Sokolove Law urge Cleveland families to start early.
Should I hire a Cleveland firm or a national mesothelioma firm?
Both options work in practice, and the trade-offs are concrete. Cleveland-area firms such as Kelley Ferraro, McDermott & Hickey, and KNR know the Cuyahoga County courts and can meet clients in person quickly. National firms such as Simmons Hanly Conroy and The Lanier Law Firm bring larger teams, in-house investigators, and nurses, and both maintain dedicated Cleveland-area case results pages even without a local office. Some families choose a national firm for the resources and expect a local Cleveland firm to serve as co-counsel.
Where in Cleveland were workers exposed to asbestos?
Cleveland’s manufacturing history created exposure across the city and Cuyahoga County. Firms’ published jobsite lists include Republic Steel, LTV Steel, U.S. Steel’s Lorain works, American Steel & Wire, the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company, Fisher Body, Ford Motor Company, Cleveland Pneumatic Tool, Case Western Reserve University, and several Cleveland hospitals including Fairview Hospital and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. Household exposure is also common, as in the $27.5 million Cuyahoga County verdict for an English teacher exposed to asbestos dust his father brought home from work.
What compensation can Cleveland mesothelioma patients pursue?
Most patients have more than one route. A civil lawsuit targets the companies that made or sold asbestos-containing products. Asbestos bankruptcy trust funds, which KNR notes hold more than $30 billion nationwide, pay claims from companies that went bankrupt, and firms like McDermott & Hickey describe pursuing trusts, workers’ compensation, and lawsuits together. Veterans may also qualify for VA benefits, particularly relevant in Cleveland given the Coast Guard’s local base and the region’s shipbuilding history.
What evidence do I need to prove an asbestos claim in Cleveland?
Ohio requires medical and occupational evidence linking asbestos exposure to a physical impairment. Kelley Ferraro notes that its lawyers often review decades of employment records to identify the most likely source of exposure, work that is especially document-heavy in a city with as many historic industrial sites as Cleveland. Ohio lawmakers also approved legislation in December 2024 adding early disclosure requirements in asbestos suits, which makes an organized exposure history more important at the start of a case.
How much does a mesothelioma lawyer in Cleveland cost?
Mesothelioma lawyers serving Cleveland generally work on contingency, meaning the client pays no upfront fees and the firm is paid only if it recovers compensation. Firms such as Kelley Ferraro, Sokolove Law, and Simmons Hanly Conroy all describe free initial consultations and no hourly fees. Contingency fees in asbestos cases generally range from 33% to 45% of the recovery, and the exact percentage is set in each firm’s fee agreement.
Disclaimer: For informational purposes only-not legal advice. Mesothelioma claims in Ohio are subject to strict legal deadlines, including a two-year statute of limitations from the date of diagnosis or wrongful death. Attorney availability, experience, and office locations change over time; verify all credentials directly with the firm and the Supreme Court of Ohio before hiring counsel.
