Melville Toxic Tort/Environmental Law
Hurwitz Fine P.C. 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 asbestos, lead, mold and silica.
Asbestos exposure continues to be a major source of litigation and we have successfully defended hundreds of asbestos exposure claims in upstate New York, 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. We represent defendants throughout the supply chain, including product manufacturers, suppliers, installers, end-users, and premises owners.
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.