Environmental Toxic Tort Litigation – American Journal of Trial Advocacy

Photo Credit: https://www.activistpost.com/2013/04/7-tap-water-toxins.html (last visited January 29, 2021).

Written By: Dylan Martin
Member, American Journal of Trial Advocacy

Pollution, climate change, and environmental regulations have been at the forefront of political and legal debate for years and had reemerged once again throughout the 2020 Presidential campaign. Naturally, depending on the swing of the political pendulum of power in the White House every 4 to 8 years, immense changes and rollbacks of environmental protections come and go with the change in the political tide. According to a recent New York Times analysis, since the beginning of President Trump’s administration in 2016, there have been “100 environmental protections that have been reversed or in the process of being rolled back.”[i] To be fair, even with significant rollbacks of protections there will always be the occasional violation or underenforcement of an environmental regulation. Continue reading “Toxic Tributaries: The Result of Hamstrung Regulation, Lack of Enforcement, and Hasty Permitting of Industrial Discharge Permits” →

Photo Credit: https://utahstatemagazine.usu.edu/culture/the-way-we-see-things/ (last visited: September 23, 2020).

Written By: Ryan Jones
Articles Editor, American Journal of Trial Advocacy

Recent federal court rulings in toxic tort litigations have “stressed the importance of the dose-response relationship and the need to carefully evaluate the level of exposure to pass the Daubert standard for expert witness admissibility under the Federal Rules of Evidence 702.”[1] The dose-response methodology “studies the relationship between the quantity of a substance (dose) and its overall effect (response) on a person, and is the ‘hallmark of basic toxicology.’”[2] Pursuant to the Daubert standard, “courts must assess whether the reasons or methodology underlying the expert testimony is scientifically valid and whether those reasons or methodologies can be properly applied to the facts at issue.” Continue reading “Are Expert Witnesses The Backbone Of Toxic Torts?” →