Ernest Svenson: Environmental Law

Legal fight over leak ends with whimper

From National Law Journal: "Attorneys who won $38.8 million in West Virginia's first class action toxic tort case have agreed to settle for a fraction of that amount after a federal appeals court ruled their original victory was based on the testimony of a witness who did not know what he was talking about.

Plaintiffs' counsel Richard Neely of Neely & Hunter of Charleston, W.Va., said his clients would accept an offer of $1.35 million from FMC Corp. rather than return to court for a third trial after a defense ruling last summer by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Kahn v FMC Corp., No. CA 95-1098-2." [Story Link]

IBM Workers Get Trial Date for Chemical Claims

A group of former IBM employees moved a step closer to trial in California Friday on allegations that exposure to "clean room" chemicals caused them to contract cancer and other deadly diseases. In the San Jose case and a similar action filed in New York, nearly 300 former IBM employees and family members allege IBM and its chemical suppliers exposed workers to a toxic brew of chemicals beginning in the 1960s. [Law.com]

New Jersey Jury Mulls DuPont Contamination Case

After quietly settling a suit with New Jersey residents who alleged they were ill from contaminants from a munitions plant, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. was hit with another suit, with 1,800 new plaintiffs, spearheaded by a small New Jersey plaintiffs' firm. DuPont responded by hiring a Chicago-based heavy hitter. The stakes are high for both sides in the case, which is currently awaiting a jury verdict. [Law.com]

'Civil Action' Lawyer Joins Push for Cleanup of Florida Toxics

The debate over the cleanup of a toxic landfill in a predominantly black Fort Lauderdale, Fla., neighborhood -- already the subject of a federal lawsuit -- may now be joined by a group of attorneys led by Jan Schlichtmann, famous from the book and movie "A Civil Action." Schlichtmann and other attorneys plan to meet tonight with residents who say the landfill has caused heightened infant mortality and cancer rates. [Law.com]