Practice Areas
Toxic Tort
Our toxic tort practice is one of our most active. The firm has handled a large variety of toxic tort cases, ranging from individual claimant to mass tort claims with hundreds of plaintiffs and just about every conceivable kind of injury.
We have assisted our clients with scores of cases involving:
∎ Mixed dusts, including silica and asbestos.
∎ Benzene and other constituents of gasoline and diesel.
∎ Latex gloves and similar products.
∎ Solvents, paints and other products containing aromatic hydrocarbons.
∎ Hydrogen sulfide, hydrofluoric acid and similar substances used in the refining industry.
∎ Asbestos
∎ Mixed product claims leading to so-called "multiple chemical sensitivity".
As with all our cases, we focus on investigating the foundational issues first, including product identification and specific causation arguments. Aggressive attacks on these two fronts, coupled with appropriate case management orders, can seriously undermine plaintiff's case, regardless of the seriousness of the injuries allegedly involved.
We have had great success in challenging class actions in the toxic tort area, including the defeat of a very large class in Riverside County. Our successful motion to decertify the class was eventually approved in the landmark Lockheed v. Superior Court case. In other cases involving multiple plaintiffs, we make extra efforts to obtain appropriate case management orders which involve preliminary discovery questionnaires which explore the basis for including such a large number of plaintiffs, examination of applicable statutes of limitation and causation issues for each. Once such an order is obtained, the plaintiff's case often is reduced to a small fraction of its earlier size, with an attendant reduction of costs and potential exposure.
Large toxic tort cases usually involve large numbers of defendants, and dealing with multi-party cases of this kind in a cost efficient way can be challenging. We pride ourselves in being selective as to what defense groups we join and only joining in productive joint defense activities. Where parties similarly situated to our clients are involved, formation of smaller subgroups can often be more advantageous than participating in large defense groups, where a great deal of time and money is spent on unproductive administrative matters.
Asbestos
WSHB has handled many asbestos cases, varying from single party claims with minimal liability, to multi-party cases involving millions of dollars in exposure. Our diverse client base has included employers of workers exposed to asbestos, manufacturers of asbestos products and property owners. We have minimized defense costs by sharing and delegating litigation activities with similarly situated parties, prioritization and the use of paralegals and support staff on appropriate tasks.
We have assisted our clients with scores of cases involving:
∎ Mixed dusts, including silica and asbestos.
∎ Benzene and other constituents of gasoline and diesel.
∎ Latex gloves and similar products.
∎ Solvents, paints and other products containing aromatic hydrocarbons.
∎ Hydrogen sulfide, hydrofluoric acid and similar substances used in the refining industry.
∎ Asbestos
∎ Mixed product claims leading to so-called "multiple chemical sensitivity".
As with all our cases, we focus on investigating the foundational issues first, including product identification and specific causation arguments. Aggressive attacks on these two fronts, coupled with appropriate case management orders, can seriously undermine plaintiff's case, regardless of the seriousness of the injuries allegedly involved.
We have had great success in challenging class actions in the toxic tort area, including the defeat of a very large class in Riverside County. Our successful motion to decertify the class was eventually approved in the landmark Lockheed v. Superior Court case. In other cases involving multiple plaintiffs, we make extra efforts to obtain appropriate case management orders which involve preliminary discovery questionnaires which explore the basis for including such a large number of plaintiffs, examination of applicable statutes of limitation and causation issues for each. Once such an order is obtained, the plaintiff's case often is reduced to a small fraction of its earlier size, with an attendant reduction of costs and potential exposure.
Large toxic tort cases usually involve large numbers of defendants, and dealing with multi-party cases of this kind in a cost efficient way can be challenging. We pride ourselves in being selective as to what defense groups we join and only joining in productive joint defense activities. Where parties similarly situated to our clients are involved, formation of smaller subgroups can often be more advantageous than participating in large defense groups, where a great deal of time and money is spent on unproductive administrative matters.
Asbestos
WSHB has handled many asbestos cases, varying from single party claims with minimal liability, to multi-party cases involving millions of dollars in exposure. Our diverse client base has included employers of workers exposed to asbestos, manufacturers of asbestos products and property owners. We have minimized defense costs by sharing and delegating litigation activities with similarly situated parties, prioritization and the use of paralegals and support staff on appropriate tasks.
