Employing a multifaceted legal strategy, Resolution Law Group assisted the owner of a shopping center who had been sued by an adjoining landowner where dry cleaning solvent had been found in the soil and groundwater. In just over a year, Resolution Law Group obtained a release from the adjoining landowner at no cost to our client by tapping insurance proceeds, obtained a multi-million dollar recovery for our client for damage to the property from dry cleaner operations, and obtained a fully insurance-funded cleanup of the contamination at the property.

Resolution Law Group represented an oil refinery with petroleum hydrocarbon contamination in an insurance coverage and bad faith case against five major insurance companies. After discovery and trial preparation, we were able to obtain a multimillion dollar settlement amount for our clients.

Resolution Law Group was hired by the owner of a dry cleaning facility in a small Northern California town who was facing tens of millions of dollars in exposure in a regional plume of volatile organic chemicals (VOC), including dry cleaning solvent (PCE). Our attorneys worked to immediately identify insurance resources which could be used to respond to the demands of government agencies for investigation. At no cost to the client, Resolution Law Group has been able to obtain over $2.7 million to date from the client’s insurer to pay for the required investigation. As part of the insurance-funded investigation, we worked closely with a scientific consulting firm to identify numerous other potentially responsible parties, including other dry cleaners, autobody shops, car washes, printers, and even the city government itself which operated sewers in the town. By identifying other responsible parties, Resolution Law Group effectively minimized any potential liability on the part of the client, and increased the likelihood of funding a successful cleanup of contamination.

Resolution Law Group identified insurance resources for our client, managed litigation against our client brought by the city and, at no cost to our client, obtained coverage for all of the client’s attorneys’ fees and consultants’ costs and obtained coverage for the entire cleanup of the contamination. Working with the city, the property was investigated and cleaned up in about eight months after the contamination was discovered.

Resolution Law Group was brought in by the owner of property which was used as a fuel distribution facility. The problem: find a creative way to facilitate the cleanup of the site and responsibly contain the owner’s liability related to actions brought by the state and local government for investigation and remediation of hydrocarbon contamination at the site. Through the careful direction of technical consultants, Resolution Law Group was able to identify two entities who were likely causes of the contamination at the site. Without resorting to the time and expense of litigation, we were able to engineer the sale of the property and the transfer of the liability to one of the parties believed responsible for the contamination. This transfer was accomplished with a minimum of expense and maximum of benefit to the client. The client was able to move on with their life without the burden, stress and expense of being responsible for contaminated property.

In the context of a delicate political situation, Resolution Law Group assisted the owner of an auto-dismantling facility in complying with the demands of the California Regional Water Quality Control Board. This compliance was made more challenging by the fact that the client was retired and relied on social security for income. Resolution Law Group identified all available insurance resources and found a creative way to ensure that the largest possible amount of insurance proceeds was made available for the cleanup. Through a combined litigation and negotiation strategy, our attorneys succeeded in obtaining sufficient funding to fully comply with the demands of the Regional Board. Our clients were able to continue their retirement without the burden of pending administrative actions.

Representing any client with environmental problems is difficult. However, when the client is bankrupt, the challenges are multiplied. Resolution Law Group worked with the Bankruptcy Trustee for a bankrupt lumbermill The bankruptcy estate retained ownership of a property with serious environmental liabilities. We performed an intensive insurance archeology effort, reviewing hundreds of thousands of stored documents to identify the available insurance resources of the client. With insurance in place, our attorneys identified the other major contributors to the contamination plus other players who were likely to be interested in a resolution of contamination issues at the site. Resolution Law Group negotiated the funding of an extensive remediation of the site which satisfied all environmental requirements and allowed for the continued use of the site as a lumbermill.