Brayton Purcell LLP, a California-based law firm, has been named one of three finalists for the 2026 Trial Lawyer of the Year Award by Public Justice, a nonprofit legal organization. The honor will be presented July 24 in Chicago.
The firm's finalist status rests largely on a single case involving a 51-year-old man who developed advanced silicosis and pulmonary massive fibrosis after years of fabricating engineered stone countertops. In April 2025, during jury selection, the litigation yielded a recovery exceeding $27 million. By that time, his lungs had deteriorated so severely that he required a double lung transplant.
Artificial stone, also called engineered or manufactured stone, contains at least 90% crystalline silica, mixed with roughly 10% of adhesives, dyes, resins and volatile organic compounds. When workers cut, shape and polish these materials without adequate controls, they inhale nano-sized silica particles that embed deep in lung tissue. Silicosis, the disease that follows, is progressive and incurable, often leaving workers oxygen-dependent and disabled.
Crystalline silica's toxicity has been understood for decades. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has regulated respirable crystalline silica in workplaces since the 1970s. Yet as engineered stone became a dominant countertop material in the 2000s and 2010s, the industry appears to have operated with minimal transparency about exposure risks.
California has emerged as an epicenter of silicosis diagnoses linked to artificial stone fabrication, with cases clustering among relatively young workers. The surge in diagnoses in recent years suggests the problem has been systematically underdiagnosed and underreported for years.
Brayton Purcell's involvement in hundreds of cases across the country raises questions about how many workers developed silicosis before litigation became the primary mechanism for establishing causation and demanding compensation. Public records requests in several states have surfaced complaints filed with OSHA and state labor agencies regarding artificial stone fabrication facilities, some documenting inadequate ventilation, missing or non-functional dust collection equipment, and limited use of respiratory protection.
Manufacturers and suppliers of artificial stone products have market incentives to minimize discussions of hazards. Distributors benefit from selling more material. Fabrication shop owners, many of them small operators with thin margins, face pressure to maximize productivity over worker safety infrastructure. The burden of managing risk has systematically landed on workers themselves.
The $27 million verdict is significant but arrived after the damage was done and after years of litigation. It compensates one family for a catastrophic health outcome but does not prevent the next worker from inhaling the same particles or compel manufacturers to strengthen workplace controls or label products with transparent hazard information.
Brayton Purcell has pursued difficult cases in service of workers with little other recourse. The firm's founding partner, Al Brayton, has long supported Public Justice and served as a past board president.
