Toxic Torts, Civil Remedies, Commercial Law & Contracts

Mistakes Have Consequences – British Petroleum’s Settlement

by Cleve Clinton | Looper Reed & McGraw, P.C. on 4/30/2013

Three years ago, Tilting told tales of oil spill legal problems suffered by Forrest Gump, Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, Wok Ann chu-gumm Seafood Restaurants, Chef Red Fishy and Bishop Carp. Tilting predicted class action...more

Fifth Circuit Reverses District Court in Deepwater Horizon Insurance Coverage Litigation and Grants BP Unlimited Access to...

by John Ellison, Jean Farrell, John Shugrue | Reed Smith on 3/27/2013

On March 1, 2013, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in In re Deepwater Horizon, No. 12-30230, 2013 WL 776354 (5th Cir. March 1, 2013), held that BP PLC ("BP") can access...more

Recent Changes To The BP Claims Program

by Viles & Beckman, LLC on 2/27/2013

The BP oil spill started with the April 20, 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig. The failure of BP Oil to cap the spill promptly resulted in millions of barrels of crude oil being released into Gulf...more

EPA Revises Guidance On Bona Fide Prospective Purchaser Protection For Tenants Under Federal Superfund Law

by Lucas Narducci | Polsinelli on 1/5/2013

On December 5, 2012, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revised its enforcement guidance regarding when tenants may be treated as bona fide prospective purchasers (BFPPs). The revised guidance addresses...more

State of California v. Continental Insurance Company, et al.

by Low, Ball & Lynch on 10/12/2012

Insurance Coverage – Stacking of Policy Limits on Progressive & Continuous Loss - California Supreme Court (August 9, 2012) In this decision, the California Supreme Court has ruled for the first time that in a...more

Settling Water-Based Superfund Liabilities -- A Toxic Brew

by Foley Hoag LLP - Environmental Law on 10/11/2012

In a poignant moment in Godfather III, Al Pacino’s character says: “Just when I thought I was out… they pull me back in”. EPA's recent eye-popping announcement of a $366 million encore settlement by AVX with respect to the...more

Watch your Greenhouse Gases

by Sedgwick LLP on 5/31/2012

In AES Corp. v. Steadfast Ins. Co., Record No. 100764, 2012 WL 1377054 (Va. April 20, 2012), the Supreme Court of Virginia found that a lawsuit alleging damages caused by the insured’s emission of greenhouse gases was not an...more

7th Circuit Addresses the Nature and Purpose of the Pollution Exclusion

by Traub Lieberman Straus & Shrewsberry LLP on 3/14/2012

Scottsdale Indem. Co. v. Village of Crestwood, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 5069 (7th Cir. Mar. 12, 2012), the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, applying Illinois law, had occasion to consider the nature and...more

Lack of Control by Insured Over Related Companies Results in Denial of Coverage

by Cole Schotz on 3/5/2012

In Newport Associates, Phase 1 Developers Limited Partnership v. Travelers Casualty and Surety Company, No. HUD-L-3070-09 ( New Jersey L. Div. January 24, 2012), plaintiff developers brought a declaratory judgment action...more

NJDEP Steps Up Efforts to Collect Natural Resource Damages in New Jersey

by Cole Schotz on 1/18/2010

In the past couple of years, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (“NJDEP”) filed more than 100 lawsuits against companies seeking compensation for restoration of damages to natural resources caused by the...more

Environmental Advisory: Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Holds Parent Corporation Not Liable under Massachusetts Superfund Law...

by Mintz Levin - Corporate & Securities on 3/25/2008

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) has held that a parent corporation is not liable under M.G.L. c. 21E, the Massachusetts Superfund law, for the liability of a subsidiary that the parent did not own or control at...more