With nationally ranked mass tort and nuclear energy litigation practices, Morgan Lewis is ideally placed to represent companies facing allegations of radiation contamination or radiation exposure from nuclear power plant operations, nuclear fuel processing plants, uranium production, radium products, atomic weapons testing, and naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM). High-stakes lawsuits such as these require an in-depth understanding of radioactive materials and the health effects of exposure to radiation, as well as a thorough command of the regulations and applicable standards regarding radiation safety. Our years of experience representing owners and operators of nuclear power plants, including representation in matters related to alleged release of radioactive materials, as well as other clients that use radioactive materials in their businesses, enable us to effectively defend clients in radiation-related litigation.
With the recent increase in class action litigation alleging radiation contamination and exposure, we have identified the need for a multidisciplinary team of attorneys to handle these types of claims. Our mass tort and class action litigators work closely with our nuclear energy attorneys to evaluate complex scientific evidence and identify reliable expert witnesses. Our knowledge of the Price Anderson Act (PAA) is also critical, as PAA considerations are often part of the strategic decision-making process.
Scope of Practice
For decades, we have successfully represented clients in class actions, multiplaintiff cases, individual lawsuits, multidistrict matters, and other mass tort litigation in courtrooms across the country. We handle the full range of situations in which our clients face allegations of bodily injury and/or property damage from exposure to hazardous products or situations, including radiation contamination and exposure-whether by consumers, in the workplace, through the environment, or otherwise. Drawing on our longstanding national networks of local trial counsel and experts, Morgan Lewis attorneys have successfully served as national coordinating and trial counsel in mass tort and class action lawsuits.
Our breadth of experience and depth of personnel in each of these areas allow us to advise clients on the full panoply of issues associated with radiation contamination and exposure claims. From the outset of a matter, our priority is to understand both the relevant factual background and the client's broader structure, concerns, goals, and priorities so that we can develop a comprehensive approach to the litigation and assist the client in managing its overall risk.
In our view, successful case management begins with early case assessments in which our attorneys identify significant issues, strategic considerations, litigation alternatives, and cost and budgeting projections. Where litigation is necessary, our focus is on advocating the client's position both substantively and procedurally. For instance, in many large toxic tort matters we have had success advocating for (and sometimes against) multidistrict litigation proceedings, obtaining early resolution of disputed class action issues, and implementing case management orders and other devices that structure the discovery, pretrial, and trial phases to highlight the weaknesses in plaintiffs' claims.
We have developed briefings on the range of legal issues that arise in tort cases, such as scope of duties and causation, enabling us to respond quickly and efficiently to these issues as they arise in the course of defending radiation contamination and exposure matters. By virtue of the breadth of our involvement in tort cases as well as our nuclear energy experience, we have established relationships with highly qualified experts in all relevant professional, technical, scientific, environmental, and medical fields. These experts are drawn from government, private industry, and academia. In addition, we have been successful in many matters in challenging and obtaining exclusion of expert testimony offered by our adversaries.
Finally, we are practiced trial attorneys, having tried mass tort and class action cases to successful conclusion in federal and state courts throughout the country. This capability not only provides our clients with the confidence to litigate cases where necessary, it also, in conjunction with our reputation for first-rate trial capability, frequently provides our clients with the credibility and leverage to achieve favorable resolutions short of trial or verdict.