The Kivalina, Alaska Case.Native Village of Kivalina, et al. v. ExxonMobil Corp., No. cv-08-1138 (N. D. Cal.). We filed this case on behalf of an Inupiat Eskimo tribe against major oil and electric power corporations and the nation's largest coal company. The case seeks monetary damages so that the village may be relocated. The village must be relocated due to the ravages of global warming, which has melted the sea ice that formerly protected Kivalina from ocean storms. Kivalina is located on a narrow barrier island on the Chuchki Sea in the Arctic Circle. The cost of relocation is estimated by the federal government to be as much as $400 million or more.
Read more about the defendant's motions to dismiss the Kivalina case.
The Pavley Cases. Green Mtn. Chrysler Plymouth Dodge Jeep v. Crombie, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 67617 (D. Vt. 2007), appeals pending, Nos. 07-4360-CV, 07-4342-CV (2d Cir.). These cases derive their nickname from Fran Pavley, the California legislator who sponsored the law that is now being challenged by the automobile industry. Under the federal Clean Air Act, California may set more stringent limits on automobile pollution and other states may then adopt California's standard. Read more.
Cape Wind. We represent Clean Power Now , a citizens group formed to promote clean energy that supports the project to build a wind park in Nantucket Sound. Read more.
The AEP Cases. Connecticut, et al. v. American Electric Power Co., et al.
(2d Cir. appeal pending); Open Space Institute, et al. v. American Electric
Power Co., et al. (2d Cir. appeal pending). We filed the first tort case
against greenhouse gas polluters in 2004 in collaboration with the attorneys
general of California, Connecticut, Iowa, New Jersey, New York, Rhode
Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, and the City of New York. We represent three
land trusts that filed suit at the same time as the States and City. The
defendants are electric power corporations that are the five largest
emitters of greenhouse gases in the United States according to the
allegations in our case. The Defendants are American Electric Power Co.,
American Electric Power Service Co., Southern Company, Tennessee Valley
Authority, Xcel Energy Inc., and Cinergy Corp. The cases, filed in federal
court in New York City, seek injunctive relief, i.e., a court order
requiring the power companies to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases
over a period of years. The cases are now on appeal in the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Second Circuit; they were dismissed by the district court
under the political question doctrine. Read more.
MTBE Cases
MTBE. We represent the State of New Hampshire in a groundwater pollution case against a score of oil companies, including Exxon-Mobil Corp., Irving Oil Corp., Shell Oil Co., Amerada Hess Corp., and others. New Hampshire has experienced widespread contamination of its water supplies with Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether ("MTBE"). Read more.
Personal Injuries
We serve as local counsel in personal injury cases arising from the prescription drugs Seroquel and Zyprexa.
We represented a paper mill worker in Maine who suffered permanent mental and physical injuries from exposure to the hydrogen sulfide gas. Our client had been turned down by several law firms when he came to us. Although his claim against his employer was barred by his acceptance of worker's compensation, we filed a case against a contractor that was responsible for the leak of deadly gas. The case was one of the first ever to address hydrogen sulfide poisoning. It settled prior to trial.
Class Actions
In the Firestone tire litigation regarding defective tires on Ford Explorers, Mr. Pawa represented a class of car owners nationwide seeking refunds and replacement tires. Read more.
Following the year 2000 presidential election debacle, Mr. Pawa filed a class action case on behalf of Florida voters challenging the use of the Votomatic punch card voting system in all future elections in the state. The case contended that punch card voting machines are defective, fail to properly count votes, and therefore deny citizens' of their fundamental right to vote. Read more.
SLAPP Suits
Western Fuels SLAPP Defeated. Mr. Pawa successfully defended Friends of the Earth, the Earth Island Institute, Rain Forest Action Network and other national environmental groups in Western Fuels Association v. Turning Point Project, No. 00-CV-074-D (D. Wyo. 2001).
Read more.
Waste Technologies, Inc., Inc. SLAPP Defeated. Mr. Pawa represented renown environmental activist Terri Swearingen in a lawsuit filed by the Waste Technologies, Inc ("WTI") hazardous waste incineration company. Read more.