© 2014 The Texas Lawbook.
By Mark Curriden – (November 14) – When the annals of great trials are written, it is doubtful that Harris County and State of Texas v. International Paper, McGinnes Industrial Maintenance Corp. and Waste Management will be featured.
And that is a shame, as the case should go down as one of the greatest defense victories in Texas history.
Just a month ago, lawyers for the county and state demanded that the three businesses pay $3 billion in penalties related to the 1965 disposal of tons of sludge laced with dioxin from a Houston paper mill into three pits near the banks of the San Jacinto River.
The plaintiffs claimed that Houston-based Waste Management, IP and MIMC knew about the environmental dangers of the waste dumps for decades but took no actions preventing the toxins from infiltrating the water and warned no one about the public health risks.
By many accounts, the companies were headed for a 10-digit loss.
Shortly before trial, Waste Management hired Barrett Reasoner of Gibbs & Bruns. MIMC brought in Paula Hinton of Winston & Strawn. IP turned to Morgan Lewis’ Winn Carter.
The three are experienced Houston trial lawyers – and, by the way, good friends outside of the courtroom – who have handled major energy and environmental litigation for decades. The lawyers worked in unison, developing complimentary defense strategies and methodically employing those plans in the courtroom.
During the past four weeks, Hinton, Carter and Reasoner poked holes the size of I-45 in the government’s case. They convinced the judge to toss two-thirds of the government’s damage claims during the middle of the trial.
Jurors watched as the lawyers repeatedly pointed to the government’s own documents showing that the government clearly approved of the dumpsite. They brought in experts to say that the companies followed all of the state’s environmental guidelines. They even got the judge in the case to tell jurors that the companies have been cooperating with federal environmental officials with the clean up of the site, including paying for the costs of the clean up.
“This was a very sophisticated operation for the time, approved by Harris County,” Hinton told jurors. “Don’t let anybody tell you that this was a fly-by-night operation where they were slipping waste out the back door and dumping it down the drain or onto somebody else’s property.”
Reasoner argued that his client, Waste Management had nothing to do with this waste disposal site.
“Waste Management of Texas could not have changed some behavior or done something differently because we didn’t come along until 2003,” he told jurors. “It was not until 2005 that Waste Management had any knowledge about the existence of this site.”
Their arguments were powerful enough that Harris County agreed to settle with Waste Management and MIMC minutes before closing arguments were scheduled to begin.
The two companies agreed to pay $29.2 million – less than one percent of the government’s demand. The settlement provides $10 million each to the county and state. The rest goes to lawyer fees and expenses.
IP declined to settle. In closing arguments, Carter said blame, if any was to be assigned, rests with MIMC and Waste Management, not IP.
The jury deliberated for only an hour before ruling 10 to 2 that IP owed nothing.
Harris County lawyers say they may appeal the verdict, but this week definitely belonged to Carter, Hinton and Reasoner.
Other lawyers involved in the case included Melanie Grey of Winston & Strawn representing MIMC; Robin Gibbs, Sydney Ballesteros, Mark Giugliano of Gibbs & Bruns defending Waste Management; and Bracewell & Giuliani lawyers Christopher L. Dodson, John A. Riley and K. Knox Nunnally also representing Waste Management.
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