Litigation Support

Environmental Litigation Support · Expert Witness Testimony and Reports · Insurance Archeology

Environmental Litigation Support · Breitstone & Co. Ltd.
Hazardous material clean-up and Superfund site claims involve intensive research and investigation to locate all liable parties and related insurance policies. Support from Breitstone & Co. Ltd. includes detailed investigations of sites and losses, expert reports and testimony, and creative solutions addressing liability buyout and environmental liability contingencies. Breitstone & Co. Ltd.’s insurance managers and environmental consultants offer expert litigation support in complex environmental tort and compliance cases.

Environmental Policy Claim Recovery
Breitstone & Co. Ltd. recovers toxic tort and environmental claims on behalf of our clients under general liability policies by identifying liable parties and relevant policy language.

Expert Witness · Testimony and Reports
Rod Taylor provides expert reports and testimony on insurance coverage issues, including the scope of coverage available under general liability and environmental insurance policies and construction insurance issues.

Pollution Liability Library
Breitstone & Co. Ltd., clients have access to an expansive environmental and insurance library maintained at Breitstone & Co. Ltd.. The library includes most pollution liability insurance forms from the 1970s to present and is a valuable resource for research, trial preparation, and evidence.

Environmental Litigation Support Services Breitstone & Co. Ltd. Provides:

• Prepare expert reports and testify on allocation of loss issues among policyholders, primary liability insurers and excess insurers.
• Provide creative solutions to address liability buyout and environmental liability contingencies which help to resolve lawsuits.
• Prepare written reports on insurance issues, including the specific coverages available for environmental risks.
• Verify the availability of environmental insurance in relevant time periods through
  personal experience, research and written materials.
• In conjunction with the services of Enviro-Tox Loss Services, Inc., we provide assistance to lawyers and their corporate clients on insurance and asset recovery for environmental and toxic tort exposures including:
  • Insurance archeology, the location of unique sources of coverage for the benefit of clients
  • Reconstruction of past operations, including chemical processes terminated decades ago
  • Development of witness identification and location with optional interviews
  • Factual investigation of complex losses, both new and old
  • Factual and detailed site investigation Read more
  • Location of old or missing records
  • Review of documents for identification of potentially responsive materials for an attorney's review and handling Read more
  • Review and computer indexing of mass documents for use in multiple cases
  • Creation of cost-sharing agreements with client's multiple carriers Read more
  • Assistance in obtaining additional insurance coverage through unique applications of policy language
  • Regulatory interaction and compliance assistance Read more
  • Coordination with computer consultants on data bases
  • Finding ways to get insurance to pay for global-type programs on specific files
  • Audits of invoices and files for compliance with client guidelines Read more
  • Administrative control over Self-Insured Retention (SIR) programs to include apportionment and recovery from carriers

A few of the most recent lawsuits in which this firm has been retained as an expert or consultant involved:

• Availability of environmental insurance for PRPs at third-party disposal sites in the mid-1980s.
• Limits and coverages available for underground storage tanks in the period from 1981 to 1991.
• Markets writing environmental insurance for mining operations in the period from 1974 to 1995.