Harold L. Segall

Some representative examples of Mr. Segall’s recent litigation experience include the following:

• Won case in U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware based on a ruling that our client, a large corporation, bore no environmental liability for the waste disposal of its subsidiary, a polypropylene manufacturer, resolving a number of legal issues as to what level of involvement a parent company can have with its subsidiary's environmental matters without triggering environmental liability; obtained prior rulings dismissing contractual indemnification claim and other state law claims.

• Won case in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York and on appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit where both courts held that our client, which owned and operated an oil storage terminal, had no liability under U.S. or New York law for contamination of the Utica Harbor and vicinity; set precedent regarding the scope of statutory defenses under a federal statute and the scope of liability under that statute, as well as the burden of proof under a New York environmental statute.

• Won case in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon in which Plaintiffs alleged fraud, contract, tort, and environmental claims  against our client, a large energy company, in connection with the sale of a mine and related property; precedent set with respect to pre-emption of state statutes of repose under the federal Superfund statute, contribution under the federal Superfund statute, and the pre-requisites to a contribution claim under the Oregon Hazardous Waste Statute.

• Won pre-trial dismissal of lawsuit brought in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado by State of Colorado and a third-party claim brought in the same court by a private party in a related case based on alleged contamination from mining activities of a former subsidiary of our client in Colorado.

• Won case in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland based on ruling that public school system failed to provide disabled, nine year old child with the free and appropriate educational program required under federal law.

• Forced the State of New Jersey to withdraw a consumer fraud claim filed in New Jersey Superior Court against our client, a large company, in response to our motion to dismiss.

• Favorable settlement during trial in defense of oil company in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Oklahoma in dispute over contractual and statutory responsibility for environmental cleanup of oil refinery site in Oklahoma.

• Obtained full insurance coverage and highly favorable settlement in toxic tort litigation in D.C. Superior Court on behalf of defendant, a commercial real estate owner.

• Favorable settlement on behalf of pesticide developer and manufacturer with respect to compensation owed by a generic competitor for environmental and health data.

• Favorable settlement on behalf of leading sporting goods retailer in a dispute in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee over national contracting issues regarding newspaper advertising circulars.