Our team partners with sovereign and public entities whose natural resources and public water systems, facilities, and other properties have been damaged or destroyed by the misconduct of industrial polluters – with the aim of righting historic wrongs and ensuring contaminated environmental assets can be restored, and residents made whole.
The natural environment is our foundation: we all depend on healthy, clean, safe natural resources. Clean water and clean air are the non-negotiable minimum to which the public as a whole is entitled. Sometimes environmental hazards are known, but often they are not. Our families live, work, and play assuming that the soils, water, air, and other resources around them are safe. When industrial pollution jeopardizes the integrity of the environment, state and local governments have a duty to take action.
Environmental harms often occur over the long term, invisibly and silently. By the time the public understands the risks of a product or chemical formulation, or of the waste disposal practices of an industrial facility, the gravity of the harm may make immediate restoration impractical or impossible. Environmental litigation is a critical tool for achieving accountability and restoring the rights of the public. There is no substitute for safe and clean resources, but when contamination imperils them, litigation can deliver options, and the ability to take the steps state and local government authorities deem necessary to clean up their communities.
What we See on the Horizon
The Ecological Foundations of Society Increasingly Imperiled
- Weakening or eliminated environmental regulations and government oversight emboldening companies already willing to cut corners for the sake of the bottom line
- Even well-intentioned companies now lacking clear guidance
Forever Chemicals Such as PFAS Continuing as Top Concern
- Expected ongoing detection in water, soil and human blood
- Advances in monitoring and detection and forensics aiding in identification
- New sites of interest are being identified regularly: aquifers and surface waters are not the only resources at stake
Continuing Emergence of Other Contaminants
- Micro-and nanoplastics increasingly detected in water and even air and human tissue
Pharmaceutical and other products in wastewater and surface water, making their way into reservoirs and other drinking water supplies
The Reason Plaintiffs Hire Us
A leader in plaintiff-side litigation, G&E’s skilled attorneys, scientists and environmental analysts have the experience and resources to litigate against some of the world’s largest corporations, be they energy companies, manufacturers and suppliers of hazardous chemicals, or other negligent or reckless corporate actors. Our results speak for themselves, with some of the largest environmental damages recoveries or settlements in history.
Additionally, should a corporation seek to avoid responsibility by filing bankruptcy, G&E has extensive experience in litigation arising out of major bankruptcies and other insolvency matters. Our attorneys combine their sophisticated complex-litigation skills with a practiced understanding of the Bankruptcy Code and other applicable insolvency laws to seek and obtain substantial recoveries for clients through the reorganization process.
