Toxic Tort Litigation

October 25, 2022

Lead counsel for Medline Industries in the Circuit Court of Cook County in litigation alleging cancer-causing exposure to ethylene oxide (“EtO”) allegedly arising from the use of EtO in Medline’s medical sterilization plant. Individual plaintiffs allege a variety of different cancers, including leukemia, breast cancer, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, brain cancer, and skin cancer, among others.
Baby Powder Lawsuits: Represents a multi-national healthcare company in high-stakes litigation related to their cosmetic talcum powder products over allegations that its products contain asbestos and cause mesothelioma.
Successfully represented a refinery owner at a two week trial against plaintiff’s claim that his lung cancer developed as a result of a “synergistic effect” between his alleged asbestos exposure and his cigarette smoking. The jury returned a verdict that found that the sole proximate cause of plaintiff’s lung cancer was cigarette smoking. In the months leading up to the trial, the parties had argued over which expert witnesses would be allowed to testify on plaintiff’s behalf. The judge accepted the defense arguments that plaintiff’s expert theories were scientifically unreliable, and that the Court should bar its use at trial. Using the Daubert factors, the Court disallowed the witnesses’ testimony concerning their alleged knowledge of asbestos exposure, and particularly the “any exposure” theory, under which any exposure to asbestos results in injury and is considered to potentially cause cancer. Krik v. ExxonMobil, et al, No. 1:10-cv-07435 - Document 299 (N.D. Ill. 2014).
Obtained summary judgment in favor of premises owner for alleged exposure to asbestos that occurred during the initial construction of a grass roots refinery. In a case of first impression, summary judgment was upheld by the First District Court of Appeals which articulated the duties owed by premises owners in Illinois to independent contractors in the context of alleged exposure to asbestos. The court held that the refinery owner was not liable to the plaintiff for the alleged exposure to the asbestos-containing materials with which he and other construction workers were working. Gregory v. ExxonMobil, 892 N.E.2d 563 (Ill. App. Ct. 1st Dist. 2008).
Successfully represented the world's largest producer of chromium chemicals in a suit alleging conspiracy over a period of many years by the company and its trade association to suppress information about the cancer-causing potential of sodium dichromate, a hexavalent chromium VI compound.
Obtained favorable settlement on behalf of two coatings manufacturers in a case in which plaintiffs claimed that the 97 deaths and more than 200 injuries arising from a New Year's Eve hotel fire in San Juan, Puerto Rico, were attributable to hydrogen cyanide off-gassing from the products.

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