Arranger Liability Under CERCLA: Leveraging Recent Court Decisions

Reducing Liability Amid Uncertainty and Absent Clear Guidance

Recording of a 90-minute CLE webinar with Q&A

Conducted on Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Recorded event now available

or call 1-800-926-7926
Program Materials

This CLE webinar will provide environmental counsel with a briefing of how recent court decisions have addressed arranger liability issues and their implications for CERCLA liability. The panel will provide guidance to counsel on overcoming the challenging issues in arranger liability litigation.

Description

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. U.S. (BNSF) significantly changed the legal landscape under CERCLA, setting limits of arranger liability. However BNSF's application of the fact-intensive inquiry has proved challenging for parties and environmental counsel.

CERCLA arranger liability is evolving, and cases addressing such liability are aggressively litigated. Counsel for businesses facing potential liability must understand current court rulings and develop the factual record to demonstrate intent, or lack thereof, of the potential disposer.

Listen as our authoritative panel of environmental attorneys examines recent decisions on arranger liability and how the courts are applying BNSF, as well as the implications for CERCLA liability. The panel will offer best practices for minimizing CERCLA liability.

READ MORE

Outline

  1. Brief overview of arranger liability
  2. Challenging issues related to arranger liability
    1. “Arranged for”
    2. Intent/knowledge
    3. Nature of transaction
  3. Lessons learned from recent decisions
    1. NCR Corp. v. George A. Whiting Paper Co. (7th Cir. Sept. 25, 2014)
    2. United States v. Federal Resources Corp. (D. Idaho July 14, 2014)
    3. Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products v. NCR Corp. (W.D. Mich. 2013)
    4. Carolina Power & Light Co. v. Alcan Aluminum Corp. (E.D.N.C. 2013)
    5. W.R. Grace & Co.-Conn. v. Zotos Int'l Inc. (W.D.N.Y. 2013)
  4. Best practices

Benefits

The panel will review these and other key issues:

  • What intent is necessary to implicate arranger liability under CERCLA?
  • How are different jurisdictions applying the BNSF decision in arranger liability cases?
  • What steps can counsel take to overcome the challenging issues involved in arranger liability litigation?

Faculty

Murphy, Michael
Michael K. Murphy
Partner
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher

Mr. Murphy handles a wide variety of cases under most federal and a number of state environmental statutes, and has...  |  Read More

Schiller, Suzanne
Shoshana Suzanne Ilene Schiller
Partner
Manko Gold Katcher & Fox

Ms. Schiller, Chair of the ABA's Superfund and Natural Resources Damages Litigation Committee, handles a wide range...  |  Read More

Other Formats
— Anytime, Anywhere

Strafford will process CLE credit for one person on each recording. All formats include program handouts. To find out which recorded format will provide the best CLE option, select your state:

CLE On-Demand Video

$297

Download

$297