The Legal 500

Baron & Budd PC is an industry leader in the field of toxic tort litigation. The firm represents all types of claimants, from individuals to municipalities, where exposure to toxic substances has led to injuries or economic loss. It fields more than 60 attorneys across offices in Dallas, Houston, Beverly Hills and Baton Rouge, allowing it to resource the most complex cases. Head of the water contamination practice Scott Summy is highly regarded for his work in the MTBE contamination litigation. His reputation saw him recently selected to serve on the plaintiffs’ steering committee as well as the executive committee in the Gulf Coast oil spill MDL, which was consolidated in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana in August 2010. Russell Budd and Bruce Steckler are also recommended.

Weitz & Luxenberg PC’s attorneys are ‘masters in the field’ in asbestos litigation, for years having been at the forefront of these cases and recovered billions of dollars in settlements and verdicts. In 2010, it was selected to serve on the plaintiffs’ steering committee in the Gulf Coast oil spill MDL, a selection that consolidated the firm’s prominent reputation in toxic tort cases. With 60 lawyers, it is one of the largest personal injury and mass tort plaintiffs’ firms in New York. It also has an office in New Jersey and recently opened an office in Los Angeles, which is managed by the seasoned Joseph Maher. Robert Gordon, who co-led the MTBE litigation against the oil and gas industry on behalf of 153 public and private drinking water systems nationally, is the firm’s most renowned trial lawyer. The highly rated Robin Greenwald heads the environmental toxic tort practice and focuses her own work on vapor intrusion, contaminated water and toxic emissions from landfill. Frank Ortiz and Lisa Nathanson Busch are also recommended.

After beginning its practice representing victims in occupational disease and workers’ rights cases, Motley Rice LLC has expanded its practice into a number of toxic tort areas including asbestos and environmental matters such as ground water or soil contamination and vapor intrusion. In addition to its headquarters in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, the firm also has several other offices including one in Los Angeles (operated as Motley Rice LLP), and another in Washington DC. The firm is currently litigating cases in relation to the catastrophic spill following the explosion of BP’s Deep Water Horizon oil well. In the occupational disease space, it is representing military veterans against several defense contractors including KBR Inc and Halliburton Company, alleging that prolonged exposure to burn pit emissions on military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan caused injuries including chronic illnesses. In December 2010, the US District Court judge in Greenbelt, Maryland, announced a stay of discovery until the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has ruled on three related cases. Name partners Ronald Motley and Joseph Rice are well established and highly respected figures in the field. Other recommended individuals include Anne McGinness Kearse, whose practice focuses on occupational health injuries; and John Herrick, who leads the occupational disease practice.

Napoli Bern Ripka, LLP is a three-partner firm supported by 24 other lawyers in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Oklahoma, and which has plaintiffs’ personal injury and medical malpractice cases as its core areas of expertise. The firm’s capabilities in mass tort litigation were nationally recognized following its role as plaintiffs’ co-liaison counsel in achieving the $657m settlement relating to September 11 injury claims. It also acted for homeowners in Florida in environmental contamination claims that settled favorably. Marc Bern and Paul Napoli are recommended and have expertise including MTBE and other chemical contamination.

Richardson, Patrick, Westbrook & Brickman, LLC, which has three offices across South Carolina, makes toxic tort one of its main practice areas. The firm represents individuals and government entities in complex litigation including class actions and multi-district litigation. Recently, the firm’s environmental work has focused on the intrusion of trichloroethylene (TCE) and benzene vapors into households from groundwater contamination. In other work, Jerry Evans and Gordon Rhea recently served as lead counsel for refinery workers as plaintiffs in toxic exposure lawsuits brought against Hess Oil Virgin Islands Corporation and Hess Corporation. The plaintiffs alleged that prolonged exposure to catalyst dust generated during the oil-refining process caused harm. A confidential settlement was reached late in 2010 after three weeks of trial in the Virgin Islands.