David F. Wood -- Partner
  Office:  Los Angeles
  Phone:   (310) 481-7601
  dwood@wshblaw.com

Education:Southwestern University School of Law , 1975
J.D.  
Columbia University , 1968
M.A.  
Middlebury College , 1967
B.A.  

Experience: Environmental & Pollution
Handling enforcement and abatement notices and negotiation of settlements with enforcement agencies.

Risk management - coordination of compliance issues for property owners and businesses.

Hazardous Waste / Groundwater Contamination Cases
Leaking underground storage tanks and septic systems.

Defense of claims waste recycling facilities and landfills.

Extensive experience in working with governmental agencies and environmental consultants to reduce scope and cost of remediation.

Product Liability
Defense of manufacturers, distributors and retailers of products alleged to cause injuries and property damage.

Cases have involved wrongful death and catastrophic injuries including burns, brain damage, severed limbs and digits, disfigurement, and neurological and psychological damage.

Extensive experience consulting with manufacturers and distributors regarding risk management issues, sufficiency of safety procedures and adequacy of warnings.

Representative product cases have included those involving: power tools, tires, infant/children's products, medical devices, bicycle helmets, starter sprays and boom lifts.

Proposition 65
Representation of wide range of defendants in this area - from Fortune 100 companies to small family enterprises.

Experience in dealing with most of the active Proposition 65 "enforcers" in California.

Occupational as well as consumer exposures.

Extensive experience in risk management and loss prevention relating to Proposition 65 Compliance.

Toxic Tort
Product liability matters representing manufacturers, distributors and retailers of products alleged to cause toxic injuries.

Mold, asbestos, benzene, and other chemical exposures in residential and commercial settings.

Cases involving exposure to contaminated soil, underground storage tank leaks, and emissions from neighboring properties.

Extensive experience working with and managing costs relating to joint defense groups.

Publications
Workplace Exposures: the Metzger Effect

Retention and Handling of Environmental Experts

Lead Exposures

Evidence of Exposure: Evolving Standards of Proof in Benzene Litigation Mealey’s Litigation Report: Benzene, Vol. 1, #2 (July 2006)

Handling Occupational Exposure Cases

Controlling Costs in Environmental Litigation

Strategies for Handling Benzene Litigation

Selection and Management of Experts in Environmental Litigation

Toxic Mold Claims

Attacking Plaintiff's Class Action Case

Allocation Strategies and in Multi-Party Environmental Litigation

Defense of Developers in Environmental Cases

Conflicts of Interest and the Right to Independent Counsel - Defense Research Institute (1997)

The Clean Water Act

Emerging Private Rights Under RCRA - Environmental Claims Journal, Vol. 7, Issue 4 (Summer 1995)

Blueprint for the Critical Review of Technical Environmental Reports - Environmental Claims Journal, Volume 6, Issue 2 (Winter 1993)

The Ten Commandments of Environmental Litigation Cost Management - Environmental Claims Journal, Volume 4, Issue 4 (1992)

Awards
Named Southern California Super Lawyer; 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010.


David Wood
David has over 30 years of trial and general litigation experience, specializing in environmental and product liability litigation. David has handled a wide variety of multi-party cases involving multi-million dollar exposure at the trial and appellate levels. He has conducted dozens of seminars and spoken throughout the country on a variety of litigation, case management and risk management issues.



















Los Angeles
310.481.7600


Phoenix
602.441.1300


Glendale
818.551.6000


Rancho Cucamonga
909.987.5240


Riverside
951.779.5000


Orange County
949.757.4500


Fresno
559.437.2860


Northern California
925.356.8200


Las Vegas
702.222.0625


San Diego
619.849.4900


Denver
720.479.2500


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