With a core environmental practice led by Brian Israel in Washington DC, and a product liability group overseen by Anand Agneshwar and Daphne O’Connor in New York and Washington DC, Arnold & Porter is well-placed to represent a wide spectrum of businesses, with ongoing operations or legacy liabilities, on toxic tort matters involving a myriad chemicals and contaminated materials. In this context, the firm advises on a wide range of issues, including interactions with the relevant regulators – including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – responding to government investigations and addressing remediation requests, as well as handling complex aggregated civil litigation. Washington DC-based Michael Daneker maintains a vibrant practice alongside his duties as co-managing partner of the firm, regularly defending clients in personal injury, medical monitoring, and property damage actions across a range of contaminants. He has been particularly active of late in relation to “forever chemicals”-related issues and continues to act as national coordinating environmental counsel for Honeywell International. Washington DC-based Elissa Preheim has also been pivotal to the work for Honeywell on alleged PFAS contamination and is noted for her ability to litigate high-stakes matters involving parallel proceedings. Also in Washington DC, William Hoffman has deep trial and appellate experience across toxic tort and product liability matters; he continues to represent Bayer as national counsel for the ongoing litigation involving the legacy Monsanto product Round Up.
Key clients
- Honeywell International
- Chemours
- Mosaic
- Warner-Lambert (Pfizer)
- Shiseido Americas Corporation
- Coty Inc.
- McDonald’s Corporation
- BP and Atlantic Richfield Co.
- Bayer
- Pfizer
- Altria Group and affiliates including Philip Morris USA
Work highlights
- Serving as lead environmental counsel for Chemours on a range of regulatory, enforcement, and litigation matters relating to the discovery of chemicals in the Cape Fear River in North Carolina.
- Serving as lead toxic tort litigation counsel to Honeywell in the defense of a consolidated class action and more than 60 individual toxic tort suits in federal and state court arising out of the presence of PFOA in the groundwater and municipal water supply of Hoosick Falls, New York.
- Serving as national counsel to Bayer for the ongoing litigation involving the legacy Monsanto product Roundup.
Lawyers
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Anand Agneshwar, Daphne O’Connor, Brian Israel