Jackson Gilmour & Dobbs, PC represents private and public entities in environmental litigation and related matters across the country ranging from some of the largest federal Superfund sites in the country to single land owner cost-recovery and nuisance claims. Our attorneys’ educational, technical and professional backgrounds have allowed us to create an exemplary team that is particularly well suited to represent clients in environmental matters. We represent plaintiffs and defendants in a wide variety of disputes involving the environment, including insurance disputes, cost-recovery actions, contribution actions, CERCLA, RCRA, CWA and OPA litigation, similar state law actions, nuisance and property damage litigation, natural resource damages litigation, and many other matters relating to contamination and impaired real-property. We represent clients in environmental litigation matters in state and federal courts, before state and federal regulatory agencies, as well as in ADR forums.
Environmental litigation involves unique and complex legal and technical challenges. Our attorneys have the legal expertise for dealing with complex environmental matters, as well as the technical knowledge and expertise necessary to address the difficulties and challenges presented by environmental litigation. Our practice and educational backgrounds in government, earth sciences, economics, ecology and social sciences allow our attorneys to work at a high level of cooperation with environmental, technical and economic experts. Our attorneys’ knowledge and understanding of the scientific issues frequently presented in environmental matters, in addition to our extensive experience, allow us to work in a collaborative manner in overseeing and managing the technical consultants and experts required for environmental litigation.
Corporate responsibility for historical contamination is often a key issue in environmental litigation. Tracing liabilities through a web of historical land ownership, corporate succession, divestments, mergers and assignments in order to identify the proper liable entities, as well as identifying contaminant sources, are vital to successfully prosecuting and defending environmental litigation. Our attorneys have extensive experience in tracing corporate ownership and liabilities to the responsible party.
Environmental litigation, like all litigation, can be very expensive and impact a client’s ability to conduct business. At Jackson Gilmour & Dobbs, PC, we are committed to providing the highest level of service to our clients in the most cost effective manner possible. We work closely with our clients to develop alternative and innovative methods to address the cost of complex litigation utilizing arrangements that vary from contingency fee, cost recovery matters to flat and blended fees. In addition, we work with and monitor technical consultants and experts to ensure that their services are fully and efficiently integrated into our litigation strategy and budget.
By integrating the Firm’s legal, technical and corporate expertise, with our commitment to achieving our clients’ goals in the most efficient manner possible, Jackson Gilmour & Dobbs, PC provides superior service and value to our clients.
CERCLA and Multi-Party Cost-Recovery Matters
The attorneys at Jackson Gilmour & Dobbs, PC have vast experience representing clients in multi-party CERCLA and cost-recovery matters across the country. We have extensive experience in handling the tremendous volume of documents and data generated in such cases and working with sophisticated document and database platforms to efficiently manage such large amounts of data. We also work with joint defense groups and affiliated legal teams to maximize our clients’ resources and minimize our clients’ exposure.
Additionally, we work with our clients to address and seek contribution for legacy sites contaminated by prior owners, operators, tenants, and related companies. We assist our clients in identifying legacy sites that may be suitable for cost recovery and then we work to ensure subsequent cleanups are conducted in a manner that optimizes those cost-recovery or contribution actions. Through negotiations and litigation we work to maximize the recovery of remediation costs for our clients.
Natural Resource Damages
Natural resource damages (NRD) represents a significant weapon in the federal, state and tribal trustees’ arsenal to obtain damages for environmental contamination and injury to natural resources. NRD may encompass injuries to groundwater, surface waters, wetlands, rivers and bays, sediments and soil, wildlife, fish, birds and other biota, as well as the economic consequences of such injuries, associated with hazardous substances and environmental degradation.
Through extensive work on matters involving some of the country’s largest harbors, bays and river systems, the attorneys at Jackson Gilmour & Dobbs, PC have developed a unique capacity to handle extremely complex NRD matters. Our experience handling multiple, significant NRD claims across the country, has allowed us to develop the education, knowledge and experience necessary to provide our clients with exceptional service and counsel on these very complex environmental matters. Our representation of both trustees and private clients has allowed us to advise our clients and their technical, economic, regulatory, and ecological experts with an understanding of NRD matters that is truly extraordinary.