More than 200 asbestos cases set for trial next week in Madison County

Two hundred nine asbestos cases are set for trial beginning March 2 in Madison County Circuit Court.

The vast majority of them are mesothelioma claims - 186 - brought mostly by the Simmons firm of Alton - 186 - on behalf of plaintiffs mainly outside of Illinois - 190.

A review of 207 of the cases shows that just four of the plaintiffs are from Madison County, representing about two percent of the total.

Most cases - 116 - were filed in 2013. Forty-four cases were filed in 2014; 35 were filed in 2012 and 11 filed in 2011.

The oldest case is a Simmons case from 2008 in which Steve Fox of Georgia claims mesothelioma.

Flint and Associates of Glen Carbon has 14 clients docketed for trial. The Napoli firm of Glen Carbo has five cases. Other firms including Gori Julian, Maune Raichle, Lanier, Goldenberg, Sharder and Associates and O'Brien have one or two cases set for trial.