Melville Toxic Tort/Environmental Law

 

Asbestos

Hurwitz Fine’s Asbestos practice group is led by a team of attorneys, each with over 20 years of experience handling asbestos claims throughout New York State.

Hurwitz Fine serves as local, regional, statewide, and national counsel for defendants throughout the supply chain including product manufacturers, suppliers, installers, end-users, and premises owners.  

We have represented clients across multiple industries, including but not limited to:

  • automotive brake and friction products
  • aviation and aerospace
  • boilers, furnaces, pumps, valves, and gaskets
  • cosmetic talc suppliers and retailers
  • construction, drywall, and insulation contractors and suppliers
  • industrial products
  • residential, commercial, and industrial heating
  • spray fireproofing
  • steelmaking and refineries

Asbestos exposure continues to be a major source of litigation and we have successfully defended thousands of asbestos exposure claims throughout New York State, up to and including trial and appeal. With the number of viable non-bankrupt defendants in asbestos litigation dwindling, plaintiffs’ firms are constantly seeking new avenues and novel theories to prosecute their claims.

Hurwitz Fine remains at the forefront of asbestos litigation, leveraging our decades of experience, strategic insights, and proven track record to navigate the evolving legal landscape. We stay ahead of emerging trends, novel plaintiff strategies, and legislative developments to provide our clients with innovative and effective defense strategies.

 

Other Toxic Exposures

Hurwitz Fine has been active in the practice of environmental law dating back to the Love Canal litigation in 1979, in which we represented one of the prime defendants. The firm currently handles a wide range of environmental and toxic tort matters, including claims involving exposure to lead, mold and silica.

Our firm offers significant experience in defending lead paint poisoning claims across New York State. This unique complex litigation, with non-standard theories of liability, continues to be active, as plaintiffs claim permanent, irreversible brain damage, behavioral changes, and other neurological, and physiological injuries as a result of lead-poisoning. We defend property owners, landlords, property managers, and agents throughout the state, who are alleged to have provided deficient housing. We also have experience defending employers and contractors in suits arising out of occupational exposure to lead.

We also have significant experience in the defense of environmental remediation contractors, municipalities, and other entities in CERLA/Superfund or other mass tort matters in Federal Court. Our team frequently appears in each of New York’s Federal District Courts, as well as handling numerous arguments before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. We have been engaged in multi-district litigation stemming from a variety of environmental disasters and consulted on international arbitrations involving PCBs, silica, dioxin, benzene, and many other toxins.