(openPR) - Ambre Brandis has joined the ranks of Weitz & Luxenberg’s accomplished attorneys in the firm’s Asbestos Litigation department. No stranger to the law or asbestos, the New Jersey native honed her skills for four years at Shein Law Center, a boutique asbestos firm in Philadelphia, while working her way toward her JD degree at the Pierce Law School.

During that time, Brandis was also a judicial clerk with Sandra Moss, Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia. She also served as a mediator in a New Hampshire small claims court and a guardian ad litem in the state’s family division court.

At Weitz & Luxenberg, Brandis is charged with investigating bankruptcy files, conducting exhaustive research into the backgrounds of the firm’s clients to identify where they were exposed to the asbestos that caused their illness, and through which commercial products.

Brandis said she joined the firm, in part, out of great empathy for asbestos clients. “I come from a blue-collar family and I worry about their health since they have been exposed to asbestos throughout their careers,” said Brandis. “Our clients are similar to my family in that they were recklessly exposed to this carcinogen. I want to make sure they get compensated for the carelessness of big businesses,” she said.

The firm is known for spearheading asbestos cases, among others, obtaining a jury verdict of $37 million for two smokers with lung cancer who had been exposed to asbestos (index #s 100016/99 and 113583/05, New York Supreme Court). The defendant was Robert A. Keasbey Company, a former insulation contractor and distributor of asbestos products. In 2006, the firm secured a $25 million jury verdict in a trial against DaimlerChrysler AG for a New York City brake reliner who lost his right lung to mesothelioma.

Brandis is a member of the New York County Lawyers Association, New York State Bar Association and New York State Trial Lawyers Association. Since being admitted in 2006, Brandis has been involved in numerous pro bono projects, including one dedicated to life-planning for the elderly in New York City through Volunteers of Legal Services. There, she drafts wills, health care proxies and other related life-planning documents.

Brandis has also participated in the Cancer Advocacy Project through the New York City Bar Association. She has been asked to speak at an upcoming conference hosted by Sloan Kettering in October 2007.

People who have been harmed by asbestos can contact Dave Kufeld of Weitz & Luxenberg at www.weitzlux.com. You may also contact Client Relations via e-mail at clientrelations@weitzlux.com

Our address is 180 Maiden Lane, New York, New York 10038

About Weitz & Luxenberg, P.C.
Weitz & Luxenberg, founded in 1986, is one of the leading plaintiffs’ law firms in America. The firm has played leading roles in national and local litigations involving asbestos, DES, silicone breast implants, medical malpractice, and general negligence, among others. A forerunner in the legal fight against environmental polluters, Weitz & Luxenberg has worked with clients harmed by MTBE and mercury, among other toxins. The firm has won numerous cases involving dangerous pharmaceuticals, including Vioxx, achieving a $13.5 million verdict against Merck & Co. The firm’s other active pharmaceutical litigations include actions against the manufacturers of Bextra, ReNu, Celebrex, Ortho Evra and Seroquel.