Toxic Tort

Toxic tort litigation is for plaintiffs’ attorneys a large and fast growing field which shows no signs of slowing down. Equally troubling for potential defendants are the increasingly sophisticated means and methods by which these lawsuits are being brought. As a result, toxic tort defense has become a high-stakes affair. Defendants in these cases often find that sophisticated advice on how best to confront these difficult challenges is essential.

General Toxic Tort Defense Expertise
Hinshaw is nationally recognized as a leader in the area of toxic tort defense. Our Toxic Tort attorneys have vast experience in litigating the health and property effects of dozens of different chemical and biological substances. In doing so, we have become highly familiar with the plaintiffs’ bar’s toxic tort experts, and have deposed or cross-examined some of them dozens of times across the country. We have likewise developed relationships with, and utilized, the world’s best experts in fields ranging from epidemiology to hydrology to mold to toxicology.

We have broad experience in defending clients in multi-district litigation proceedings and have successfully defended against efforts to certify plaintiff classes in a wide variety of environmental and toxic exposure cases across the country. Because of our structure and multiple locations, we also have the flexibility to provide a vigorous defense in more localized matters.

National/Regional Defense Counsel
Hinshaw serves as national or regional defense counsel for clients in indoor air quality and mold cases, chemical exposure suits, pharmaceutical and vaccine cases, and several other types of environmental and toxic exposure cases wherever they may be sued. In this role, we coordinate all discovery, amass the requisite scientific knowledge, prepare and defend corporate witnesses for depositions and trial, and provide a single point of contact for case handling, administration and billing.

Asbestos Litigation
For more than 30 years, Hinshaw has participated in asbestos litigation and advised clients regarding compliance and asbestos management. We have tried many asbestos cases to verdict. Today, we represent a broad spectrum of clients in both personal injury and property damage claims in jurisdictions across the United States.

Our experience includes:

• Representation of a Fortune 500 company in all of its toxic tort and environmental matters in the state of Illinois for more than 20 years, including asbestos, bodily injury and property damage matters.
• Representation of an alleged successor in interest to a manufacturer of asbestos cement, asbestos thermal insulating pipe cover and block, and asbestos shingles.
• Representation in both bodily injury and property damages matters of manufacturers of construction and building products that contained asbestos, such as asbestos cements, asbestos roofing and flooring compounds, acoustical tile and plaster, wall board, fireproofing, and thermal insulating pipe covering and block
• Representation of distributors and manufacturers of refractory materials, as well as an industrial boiler manufacturer
• Serving as regional counsel for a large electrical turbine and equipment manufacturer whose products allegedly contained asbestos.
• Serving as national coordinating counsel for an asbestos mine and mill. In this capacity, we oversee the client’s litigated matters and claims throughout the United States.

Specialized Understanding
At Hinshaw, we understand the special requirements and expectations of loss prevention managers, corporate risk specialists, corporate counsel and claims managers. We therefore routinely implement budgeting, communications and cost-containment criteria to satisfy the most demanding clients.