LOS ANGELES, February 16, 2023: The Daily Journal has recognized a Morgan Lewis trial team in its list of Top Verdicts for 2022 for obtaining a unanimous $133 million jury verdict in favor of Shell USA Inc. in an environmental cost recovery lawsuit. The annual series spotlights the largest and most significant verdicts and appellate reversals in California.
After a three-week trial in Los Angeles Superior Court, the team, led by partners Deanne Miller and David Schrader, with associate Jesse Krompier, secured from Barclay Hollander Corp. its share of costs to clean up contamination on property once used as an oil storage facility by Shell and sold to the real estate developer in the 1960s. The developer built homes on the property, and it was discovered decades later that the soil in the community was contaminated. The state regulatory agency ordered a major cleanup, which Shell has been doing for many years. Shell brought the lawsuit to seek contribution for the cleanup from the developer. The jury awarded what the team suggested in their closing argument would be a fair amount.
Along with the Daily Journal recognition, the team was featured in The AM Litigation Daily’s Litigators of the Week.