Environmental and Toxic Tort Litigation

Litigators who have “been there, done that” get to the crux of an environmental issue and find pragmatic, business-minded solutions.

Unlike many law firms that hold themselves out as “environmental litigators,” we actually try cases.  Our clients and opposing parties know that if matters cannot be resolved sensibly, we are able try the dispute in court before a judge or jury. Our willingness and ability to go to the mat if needed gets results for our clients.

Environmental Litigation Experience that runs the gamut.

Our environmental lawyers have litigated cases in federal and state courts across the United States involving Mafia-run Superfund sites, cargo barges that sank in Great Lakes’ storms, covert disposal of dry cleaning wastes that contaminated groundwater for the next 500 years, sewage pipes that released such significant amounts of nitrogen and phosphorous that they caused the growth of the largest algae known on the planet, punctures in chemical liners that released millions of gallons of toxins into the desert sands of New Mexico, exposure of people and animals to cancer causing contaminants, the closure of the most famous skeet shooting club in the nation as the result of the discharge of millions of tons of lead and clay pigeons into Long Island Sound, midnight dumping of thousands of drums of toxins at a rural pig farm in Rhode Island, million dollar shipping cranes destroyed by hurricanes in Puerto Rico and the cleanup of a Superfund site buried under 38 million tires.

In nearly all of the environmental litigation matters we have handled, we have also pursued insurance benefits for our policyholder clients, recovering tens of millions of dollars.

Recent Environmental & Toxic Tort Litigation Accomplishments

Our Environmental & Toxic Tort Team walks the walk when it comes to litigating environmental issues. Here are some examples:

• When the New Jersey DEP would not cease discharging leachate from a landfill onto our client’s property, we filed suit in federal court and obtained a permanent injunction against the State to halt the discharge.  Then, we recovered all of our client’s attorneys fees under the Citizen Suit provisions of the Clean Water Act.
• When the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources sued our corporate client claiming it was liable as the passive owner of contaminated property, we aggressively pursued discovery on the factual basis for the claim.  The State refused to produce a witness to disclose the basis for its allegations.  We moved for sanctions which ultimately resulted in the dismissal of the suit against our client, which was upheld on appeal to the Vermont Supreme Court.
• Our client shared a property line with another company in an industrial park.  In the course of its manufacturing operations, the neighbor spilled, discharged, and otherwise released toxic chemicals into the ground and groundwater. When our client applied for a loan to expand his business, he discovered that the neighbor’s waste had flowed onto its property and the loan was denied.  We sued for damages.  After tracking down a “smoking gun” document and taking dozens of depositions of witnesses across the country, the case settled for $7 million after jury selection.