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A Midwest lawyer for Illinois families
Jon Neumann has spent nearly 25 years representing mesothelioma patients and families, including in Illinois courts. He is licensed in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, California, and Washington, and keeps a mailing address in Chicago.
Why asbestos remains a problem for Illinois families
For most of the twentieth century, Illinois was one of the country’s great industrial states. Its steel mills, refineries, power plants, rail yards, and factories used asbestos in boilers, turbines, furnaces, pipe insulation, gaskets, and brakes. Mesothelioma usually appears 20 to 50 years after exposure, so the illnesses being diagnosed today often trace back to that work.
Illinois also made asbestos products. A Johns-Manville plant in Waukegan manufactured building materials from 1928 to 1998 and used asbestos until 1985. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency placed the site on its Superfund list in 1983, and in December 2025 it announced that more asbestos cleanup was still needed.
Asbestos was used in insulation, boilers, turbines, gaskets, packing, brakes, fireproofing, and building materials across the state. You do not need to remember every product or job site. We trace your work history for you, even if the exposure happened 20 to 50 years ago.
Reviewed by Jon Neumann, Founding Attorney · Last reviewed
Chicago and Cook County
●Steel mills along the Calumet River and on the Southeast Side
●Railroads, rail yards, and locomotive shops
●Coal-fired power plants and utilities
●Factories making machinery, appliances, and electrical equipment
●High-rise, commercial, and public building construction
Metro East: Madison and St. Clair counties
●Oil refineries in Wood River and Roxana
●Steel mills and foundries in Granite City
●Glass and container plants in Alton
●Power plants along the Mississippi River
●Chemical plants and river terminals
Joliet and Will County
●Oil refineries and chemical plants
●Power plants along the Des Plaines River
●Heavy equipment and manufacturing plants
●Pipefitting, insulation, and maintenance work
Lake County and the North Shore
●Building materials manufacturing in Waukegan
●Naval Station Great Lakes, the Navy’s recruit training center
●Factories and power plants along Lake Michigan
Central Illinois
●Earthmoving and heavy equipment plants in Peoria, Mapleton, and Morton
●Corn and soybean processing plants in Decatur and Danville
●University and Air Force base power plants in Champaign-Urbana and Rantoul
●Power plants in Springfield, Pekin, and Clinton
●Boiler rooms in hospitals, schools, and universities
Rockford and the Quad Cities
●Machine tool and aerospace plants in Rockford
●Farm equipment manufacturing in Moline and East Moline
●Rock Island Arsenal
●Foundries and machine shops
These are examples of the kinds of work where asbestos exposure was common. Naming a city, industry, or workplace does not mean that any employer caused anyone’s illness or is a party to any claim.
Illinois workplaces in Jon’s cases
Over his career, Jon has represented Illinois workers and families whose exposure histories included work at or around:
Chicago area
●BorgWarner (Chicago Heights)
●Commonwealth Edison power plants in Chicago (Calumet, Crawford, Fisk, Northwest & Quarry)
●Inland Steel (East Chicago, Ind.)
●International Harvester (Melrose Park)
●Sears Tower (Chicago)
●Standard Oil Company (Chicago)
●State Line Generating Station, a Commonwealth Edison plant (Hammond, Ind.)
●U.S. Steel South Works (Chicago)
●Western Electric Hawthorne Works (Cicero)
●Wisconsin Steel (Chicago)
Metro East
●Cerro Copper (Sauget)
●Clark Oil refinery (Hartford)
●Granite City Steel (Granite City)
●Monsanto Chemical Company (Sauget)
●Pfizer (Sauget)
●Shell Oil refinery (Wood River)
Joliet, Lemont, and Morris
●Amoco Oil refinery (Joliet)
●Dresden Nuclear Power Plant (Morris)
●Mobil Oil refinery (Joliet)
●Texaco refinery (Lockport)
●Union Oil calcining plant (Lemont)
Lake County
●Abbott Laboratories (North Chicago)
●Johns Manville (Waukegan)
●Naval Station Great Lakes (North Chicago)
●Waukegan Generating Station (Waukegan)
Central and southern Illinois
●A.E. Staley (Decatur)
●Archer-Daniels-Midland (Peoria)
●Caterpillar (Peoria, Mapleton & Morton)
●Chanute Air Force Base (Rantoul)
●Clinton Power Station (Clinton)
●Dallman Power Plant (Springfield)
●General Motors Central Foundry (Danville)
●Humko and Kraft plants (Champaign)
●International Harvester (Peoria)
●Lauhoff Grain (Danville)
●Marathon Oil refinery (Robinson)
●Powerton Station (Pekin)
●University of Illinois Abbott Power Plant (Champaign)
Quad Cities
●John Deere Wiman (Moline)
●Quad Cities Nuclear Generating Station (Cordova)
And many other Illinois workplaces.
Listing a workplace does not mean that the employer caused anyone’s illness or is a party to any claim. Mesothelioma claims are generally brought against the companies that made, sold, or supplied asbestos-containing products. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Filing a mesothelioma claim in Illinois
Illinois filing deadlines
Under 735 ILCS 5/13-202, a personal injury lawsuit generally must be filed within 2 years. For an illness like mesothelioma, that period usually starts when a person knows, or reasonably should know, of the illness and that it may have been wrongfully caused.
Under 740 ILCS 180/2, part of the Illinois Wrongful Death Act, a wrongful death lawsuit generally must be filed within 2 years after the death.
When the clock starts depends on the facts. Other deadlines can apply, including in other states. Please contact us soon so we can protect your rights.
Mesothelioma care in Illinois
Mesothelioma is rare, and many patients seek care or a second opinion at a cancer center with extensive mesothelioma experience. These Chicago physicians treat thoracic and abdominal cancers, including mesothelioma.
University of Chicago Medicine
Chicago, Illinois
Hedy L. Kindler, MDMedical oncology; Director, Multidisciplinary Mesothelioma Program
The Mesothelioma Law Office is not affiliated with these physicians or hospitals and receives nothing of value for listing them. Listing is not an endorsement or a guarantee of care. Please talk with your own doctors about treatment choices. More Midwest centers, including Mayo Clinic and Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin, are listed in our resources.
Questions from Illinois families
I worked in Illinois but live in another state now. Can you help?+
Yes. What matters most is where and how the asbestos exposure happened, which companies made or supplied the products, and where those companies are based. Many people who worked in Illinois refineries, mills, and plants later moved away. Jon can explain the options that apply to you.
Do I have to file my case in Chicago or Madison County?+
No. Where a case can be filed depends on where you lived and worked, where the exposure happened, and where the companies involved are based. Some cases belong in an Illinois court and others in another state. Jon will explain the choices and why he recommends one over another.
Can I bring a claim against my former employer?+
Sometimes. In Illinois, workers’ compensation under the Workers’ Occupational Diseases Act has generally been an employee’s only remedy against an employer for a work-related disease. But a 2019 law, Public Act 101-0006, allows a lawsuit against a former employer when an occupational disease appears more than 25 years after the last exposure at that job. Because mesothelioma usually develops 20 to 50 years after exposure, this can apply in many mesothelioma cases. The Illinois Supreme Court upheld the law in 2025 in Martin v. Goodrich Corp. A claim may also be possible against a company you did not work for directly, such as the owner of a plant or refinery where you worked for a contractor. Family members exposed to asbestos that a worker brought home on work clothes may have claims of their own. Most mesothelioma cases also include claims against the companies that made, sold, or supplied asbestos-containing products, and claims to asbestos trust funds. Whether a claim is available against a former employer, or any other company, is fact specific and can only be determined through a thorough investigation of your work history, including when the exposures and the diagnosis happened. We do not handle workers’ compensation claims. Naming a workplace on this page does not mean that employer is responsible.
Do I have to travel to Chicago to meet with you?+
No. We come to you anywhere in Illinois. We meet with patients and families at their homes, or by video or phone if that is more convenient.
My loved one died of mesothelioma. Can our family still file a claim?+
Often, yes. The Illinois Wrongful Death Act allows a claim on behalf of the surviving spouse and next of kin, and it generally must be filed within 2 years after the death. A claim for the person’s own injuries may also continue on behalf of the estate. Because deadlines depend on the facts, please contact us soon.
I trained at Naval Station Great Lakes or served aboard Navy ships. Does that matter?+
It can. Many veterans were exposed to asbestos aboard Navy ships and at shipyards and bases. Those exposures can support a claim against the companies that made the products. Legal claims against manufacturers are separate from VA benefits, and pursuing one does not reduce the other.
