Legal Resources
PFAS Product Liability Cases – Are the Floodgates Now Open?
For the past three years, we have put forth the prediction that the PFAS litigation would evolve by expanding beyond lawsuits against PFAS manufacturers for personal injuries to lawsuits against manufacturing companies that utilize PFAS as a component of their...
PFAS In The Spotlight After Georgia Runoff Elections
Georgia’s recent Senate runoff elections resulted in a Democrat controlled U.S. Senate. The impact of the Georgia election will play out over the next few years, with some predicting that the narrow majority that Democrats have in the Senate will not guarantee...
Air Pollution Cited As Cause of Death – Will Lawsuits Follow?
Ella Kissi-Debrah, a 9-year-old UK citizen, is believed to be the first person to have her death certificate list air pollution as a cause of her death. Ella suffered from an extreme case of asthma and the coroner reviewing her death determined that the high level of...
PFAS Under Biden Administration – Change Is Coming
With just over thirty days until President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris are sworn into office, the Biden-Harris team continues to work on the many aspects of transition to ensure that change can commence immediately after swearing in. While...
Climate Lawsuit In The Netherlands Looks To Accelerate Change
Recently in The Netherlands, a group of over 17,000 citizens and several environmental groups sued Shell, asking the Court to require the company to reduce its emissions of carbon dioxide by 2030 by 45% of 2019 emission levels. Milieudefensie (“Friends of the Earth...
PFAS Action Plan By EPA Open To Public Comment
The Environmental Protection Agency recently requested public comment on guidance regarding its Significant New Use Rule for PFAS, accomplishing another goal under its PFAS Action Plan. This is just one of many avenues the EPA is taking to regulate per- and...
Governor Baker’s COVID-19 Closure Orders Held Constitutional
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker was within his constitutional authority to issue broad executive orders shutting down most of the state in an effort to restrict the spread of the coronavirus, according to the Supreme Judicial Court’s most recent opinion. The...
EPA’s Decision on Chlorpyrifos: Impact on litigation
In December 2020, EPA released its Proposed Interim Decision for the Registration Review of Chlorpyrifos (PID). The PID states that chlorpyrifos degrades into chlorpyrifos oxon, a toxic and potent acetylcholinesterase inhibitor that potentially causes...
PFAS Included In EPA Stormwater and Wastewater Permits
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has introduced an interim strategy for regulating Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in stormwater and wastewater discharges through its national permitting system that promises to have far-reaching impacts on...
New York Ban On PFAS In Food Packaging Is Now Law
In August 2020, we flagged that New York took a significant step in becoming the third state in the country to ban the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food packaging. At the time, the legislation (S.8817 and A.4739-C) was passed by the New York...
California Water District PFAS Lawsuit – $1 Billion At Stake
In August 2020, we flagged the possibility that local water boards in Orange County, California would file a lawsuit alleging that certain PFAS manufacturers were responsible for PFAS contamination found in the local drinking water sources, with possible damages of...
Biden Climate Change Plan Certain To Impact Businesses
With only fifty days until President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris are sworn into office, the Biden-Harris team continues to work on the many aspects of transition to ensure that change can commence immediately after swearing in. While the...