Represented Employer in Trade Secret Action
Represented a producer and distributor of chemicals in prosecution of trade secret action in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland against a former sales employee who copied several hundred sensitive documents to a portable hard drive before departing the company. We obtained a temporary restraining order and ultimately consent permanent injunction barring former employee from retaining and using client’s information.
Superfund Litigation – Rockets, Fares and Fireworks Superfund Site, Rialto, California
Lead litigation counsel for a client pursued for perchlorate groundwater contamination in the Rialto-Colton Groundwater Basin in San Bernardino County, California. This multi-year litigation involved state judicial and administrative proceedings, as well as federal judicial and administrative proceedings. The parties included the cities of Rialto, California, and Colton, California, the County of San Bernardino, the Santa Anna Regional and State Water Board, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Department of Defense, and over a dozen other alleged PRPs. The team extensively litigated CERCLA liability/divisibility defenses and a variety of corporate successor liability issues for multiple historic entities under the laws of multiple states. After a court-deferred resolution of successor liability issues for trial, we negotiated a favorable settlement for the client limited to implementation of an interim remedial action, utilizing a trust funded by other PRPs, including the Department of Defense, with continuing cost-sharing by the Department of Defense in capital and O&M costs. The interim action was negotiated with significant limits on scope of remedial action and re-openers and no past or future EPA oversight costs. (City of Colton v. American Promotional Events, et al., USDC, Central District California (5:09-cv-01864-SG-SS)).
