Toxic Tort / Hazardous Substances

Segal McCambridge is proud of its national reputation for providing high-quality legal services to clients involved in complex toxic tort and environmental litigation claims. We have the expertise and resources necessary to effectively litigate these unique and challenging cases, including an experienced group of lawyers dedicated to this practice area with a strong record of achieving excellent results in all facets of the litigation. We are prepared to vigorously represent clients confronted with high-risk environmental, hazardous substances or toxic tort-based cases, and have litigated cases involving asbestos, silica, talc, mold, mercury, welding rods, radar guns, masks and respirators, chemical exposures, electromagnetic fields and radiation.

The firm's practice is national in scope and encompasses a wide variety of assignments, including national trial counsel, national coordinating counsel, regional counsel, local counsel, MDL counsel and expert development counsel. We have served as lead trial counsel in numerous jurisdictions throughout the country, achieving an extremely high rate of success for our clients. This extensive trial history has allowed the firm to develop special expertise in jury selection, Daubert motions challenging admissibility of expert testimony and the effective use of technology and demonstrative exhibits in the courtroom.

Mass filings in hazardous substances litigation present unique issues for corporate defendants. The appointment of a national coordinating counsel has become a favored option. Our firm has been selected as national coordinating counsel by numerous corporations and insurers. In that role, the firm organizes the defense, trains local counsel, interviews company personnel, witnesses, prepares standard responses to interrogatories and production requests, develops and presents expert witnesses, negotiates global settlements, serves as lead or assisting trial counsel and establishes case management and reporting guidelines for local counsel.

Toxic tort litigation relies uniquely on experts and the extensive use of medical and scientific literature in preparing and presenting the appropriate theory of the case. Our toxic tort group has developed, deposed, examined and cross-examined experts from a diverse group of disciplines (radiology, pathology, oncology, pulmonology, toxicology, epidemiology, industrial hygiene, material science, etc.), and we have developed and maintained an extraordinary database on frequently used experts. We also have a comprehensive deposition and trial testimony database, a medical and scientific literature library and computerized database and Intranet capability. Experienced, dedicated paralegals manage the libraries, databases and demonstrative exhibit program.

Toxic tort litigation also presents unique procedural issues. The firm has defended numerous clients in state and federal court class action proceedings and cases consolidated by the Judicial Panel of Multi-District Litigation (MDL). We have also has been actively involved in constitutional challenges to tort reform statutes, arguing in defense of caps on non-economic and punitive damages, the repeal of joint and several liability and legislative changes affecting the statute of repose. The firm's toxic tort lawyers are active in professional associations on a local and national basis and frequent participants at seminars and speaking forums.

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Related Articles & Publications

Toxic Tort Newsletter - Vol. 7 Issue 2
In this edition of the Toxic Tort Newsletter, we report on some interesting state decisions favorable

Toxic Tort Newsletter - Winter 2008, Vol. 7 Issue 1
Did the plaintiff's attorney realize that he was unleashing the longest running mass tort litigation in U.S. history when he filed

Toxic Tort Newsletter - Fall 2007, Vol. 6 Issue 3
This issue of The Toxic Tort Newsletter contains the second part of David Walter’s comprehensive review of MTBE litigation and

Frye Meets Parker and the Effect on Toxic Exposure Cases
The recent rise in toxic exposure lawsuits has renewed the dialogue about an old friend. The Frye “general acceptance” admissibility standard,¹ first shaped in 1923, created the initial “court as the gatekeeper” function that reigned for almost three-quarters of a century.

Asbestos: Selected Cancers - Recent NIH Study on
As the United States Congress contemplated creating a trust fund to compensate individuals suffering from asbestos-related diseases

‘Parker’ Continues a Long Tradition
The recent New York Court of Appeals decision in Parker v. Mobil Oil Corp.¹ seems to have caught many off guard. After bracing for affirmation of a seemingly higher Frye standard,² the legal community was surprised with the Court’s broad strokes.

More Interesting Than Watching The Paint Dry: Emerging Trends In Lead Paint Litigation
According to the US Department of Health and Human Service's Agency for Toxicity and Disease Study: “[t]oday everyone is exposed to environmental lead. Exposure to lead and lead chemicals occurs from

Toxic Tort Newsletter - Winter 2007, Vol. 6 Issue 1
The universe of toxic tort litigation keeps expanding. New claims for all types of expsures are on the rise. In this edition, we explore a number of new claims.

Asbestos--Selected Cancers
In August 2006, the Institute of Medicine released “Asbestos: Selected Cancers.” The study was written by the Committee on Asbestos: Selected Health Effects Board on Population Health and Public Health Practices. This committee is comprised

Texas High Court Rules Policy Does Not Cover Mold
The Texas Supreme Court upheld the mold exclusion in a former version of State Farm's standard homeowners' insurance policy in a 7-2 decision rendered Aug. 31,

Toxic Tort Newsletter - Fall 2006, Vol. 5 Issue 2
Our fall issue contains information that will bring you up-to-date on some of the topics in the Toxic Tort universe. I present the status on the case of Nolan v. Weil McLain, which challenges the Lipke Rule in Illinois.

State-of-the-Art and State Farm v. Campbell - Application Beyond Exemplary Damages
Common to all asbestos cases is the “state-ofthe-art” defense. “Who knew what?” and “when did they know?” are questions that pervade every trial in which plaintiffs allege damages against asbestos products manufacturers.

Who's Watching the Gate? The Recent Evolution of Frye in The Toxic Exposure Arena
Medical causation, a difficult enough subject in itself, has for the past 13 years been complicated by the differing standards for admissibility of expert testimony. The Frye “general acceptance” admissibility standard,¹ which the U. S. Supreme Court shaped in 1923, created the initial “court as the gatekeeper”

Benzene: A Litigation Perspective
The National Toxicology Program, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Report on Carcinogens, Tenth Edition, “Carcinogen Profiles 2002,” identifies benzene as a known human carcinogen.¹ Benzene is a clear, colorless liquid

Toxic Tort Newsletter - Spring 2006, Vol. 5 Issue 1
Numerous cases have been filed across the country alleging that a plaintiff's cancer is the result of exposure to a product or substance that

Blurred Lines: The Interplay of Duty and Foreseeability
When employees leave for the day, are an employer's worries over? Does the employer need to call ahead to warn others that the employee is on their way home?

The Horwin SV40 Ruling and Its Impact On the Asbestos Litigation
On May 8th, in Horwin v. American Home Products, Inc., the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California conducted a Daubert hearing, and granted a defense motion to exclude SV40 testimony offered by Plaintiffs.

Asbestos Trust: Time for a Decision
For more than a decade, calls for asbestos litigation reform have been made by nearly everyone involved in the litigation. As the United States Supreme Court stated in Ortiz v. Fibreboard Corporation,

Hotels, High-rises Try Proactive Mold Prevention
These days, virtually any building is a possible target for mold-related problems, but hotels and highrise residential structures face unique challenges

Toxic Tort Newsletter - Spring 2005, Vol. 4 Issue 1
How many times has it been suggested to you that one of those mysterious FOIA searches be done for government documents. The red tape and procedures that must

Bye-Bye Big Verdicts, Hello Reasonable Remediation
Headlines such as "Mold is Gold" and "Forget Plastics - The Future Is in Mold" are a thing of the past. Yet, it is worth taking a moment to understand how mold and construction defect litigation have developed and matured,

Toxic Tort Newsletter - Winter 2004, Vol. 3 Issue 1
Toxic tort litigation presents difficult and interesting new challenges. It is a field that changes at an ever-increasing rate and requires specialized knowledge to manage

Toxic Tort Newsletter - Spring 2004, Vol. 3 Issue 1
The testimony of an industrial hygienist has become an integral part of a toxic tort case . A trained industrial hygienist can develop information that creates

Toxic Tort Newsletter - Spring 2003, Vol. 2 Issue 2
Toxic tort litigation presents difficult and interesting new challenges. It is a field that changes at an ever-increasing rate and requires specialized knowledge to manage it effectively.

Toxic Tort Newsletter - Winter 2003, Vol. 2 Issue 1
Toxic tort litigation presents difficult and interesting new challenges. It is a field that changes at an ever-increasing rate and requires specialized knowledge to manage it effectively.

Toxic Tort Newsletter - Fall 2002, Vol. 1 Issue 1
Toxic tort litigation presents difficult and interesting new challenges. It is a field that changes at an ever-increasing rate and requires specialized knowledge to manage it effectively.