Toxic Tort and Environmental Litigation
- Defeated the certification of a class action involving thousands of homeowners residing near a refinery in Northern California. The plaintiffs alleged that emissions—specifically odors and dust—constituted a nuisance and caused widespread property damage. The court agreed with our defense argument that due to variability in the direction and intensity of emissions, harm could not be established on a classwide basis.
- Secured summary judgment in a wrongful death action brought under the Jones Act concerning a seaman’s alleged exposure to crude oil aboard a chartered vessel.
- Obtained a favorable jury verdict in defense of a claim alleging soil and groundwater contamination by PCE.
- Defended clients in several jury trials alleging personal injuries caused by benzene-containing solvents or oilfield wastes.
- Obtained summary judgement on hundreds of coordinated toxic tort cases alleging exposure to industrials chemicals. Lockheed Litigation Cases, Judicial Council Coordination Proceeding No. 2967.
- Led a jury trial involving the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and Clean Water Act and related administrative challenges in connection to remediation of leaking storage tanks. Esso Standard Oil Co. v. Lopez-Freytes, 522 F.3d 136 (1st Cir. 2008).
- Represented a pesticide manufacturer against thousands of personal injury claims asserted by foreign banana workers.
- Obtained summary judgement and sanctions in connection with hundreds of medical monitoring claims alleging risk from underground contamination. Baker v. Chevron USA Inc., 533 Fed.Appx. 509 (6th Cir. 2013).
- Led the litigation and trial concerning environmental disclosures in a real estate transaction.
Commercial Litigation and Consumer Protection
- Obtained decision under California’s anti-SLAPP statute that protected client’s petitioning of federal agencies in connection with a competitor's product. Neurelis Inc. v. Aquestive Therapeutics Inc., 71 Cal. App. 5th 769 (Cal. Ct. App., 2021).
- Obtained a jury verdict and permanent injunction for a client denigrated by a competitor’s secretly operated ratings website.
- Defeated an administrative penalty action through a civil rights lawsuit alleging dormant Commerce Clause violations. Daniels Sharpsmart Inc. v. Smith, 889 F.3d 608 (9th Cir. 2018).
- Obtained pre-discovery dismissals of class actions alleging unfair medical care reimbursements and deceptive advertising of skin care products.
- Represented client before California supreme court on first amendment challenge to compel corporate disclosures. Beeman v. Anthem Prescription Management, LLC, 58 Cal.4th 329 (Cal., 2013).
- Defeated class certification in multidistrict litigation concerning the sale of allegedly toxic plastic drinking bottles made from BPA. In re Bisphenol-A (BPA) Polycarbonate Plastic Products Liability Litigation, No. 08-1967 (W.D. Mo.).
- Defeated class certification of statutory and constitutional claims arising out of the Public Employees’ Retirement Law.