nyt lawyer who brought down dupont

Who was the lawyer for DuPont?

In August 2000, Bilott called DuPont’s lawyer, Bernard Reilly, and explained that he knew what was going on. It was a brief conversation. The Tennants settled.

What was the settlement in the DuPont case?

In 2017, Bilott won a $671 million settlement on behalf of more than 3,500 plaintiffs. Those people claimed they had contracted diseases, among them kidney cancer and testicular cancer, from chemicals DuPont allegedly knew may have been dangerous for decades, and allowed to contaminate their drinking water anyway.

How many cases are left to try in the DuPont case?

Bilott is currently prosecuting Wolf v. DuPont, the second of the personal-injury cases filed by the members of his class. The plaintiff, John M. Wolf of Parkersburg, claims that PFOA in his drinking water caused him to develop ulcerative colitis. That trial begins in March. When it concludes, there will be 3,533 cases left to try.

What was the case with Wilbur Tennant and DuPont?

Bilott represented Wilbur Tennant of Parkersburg, West Virginia whose cattle were dying. The farm was downstream from a landfill where DuPont had been dumping hundreds of tons of perfluorooctanoic acid. In the summer of 1999, Bilott filed a federal suit against DuPont in the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.

Who was the lawyer against DuPont?

attorney Rob BilottIn 2018, attorney Rob Bilott filed a lawsuit against corporate entities tied to DuPont — which became defunct in 2017 — as well as 3M and other major chemical companies.

How much did Robert Bilott make from DuPont?

$671 million dollarsHis litigation efforts yielded more than $671 million dollars in damages for approximately 3,500 people. DuPont also settled with the EPA, agreeing to pay a mere $16.5 million fine for failure to disclose their findings about C8, a toxin that is now estimated to be present in 98 percent of the world's population.

What is Rob Bilott doing now?

Robert Bilott is a partner at the law firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister, LLP in Cincinnati, Ohio where he has practiced environmental law and litigation for more than twenty-eight years.

What did Rob Bilott do?

Rob has gained international prominence in connection with uncovering and disclosing the world-wide impact of environmental contamination by the “forever chemicals” known as PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkylated substances), particularly PFOA and PFOS.

How true is the movie Dark Waters?

"Dark Waters" is extremely accurate when compared to the true events, which makes it all the more upsetting. The script is based on the 2016 New York Times article "The Lawyer Who Became DuPont's Worst Nightmare," written by journalist Nathaniel Rich.

Did Wilbur Tennant get money from DuPont?

Wilbur Tennant and his wife, Sandra, won a legal settlement from DuPont two years ago after they accused the company of sickening their family and killing their cattle by dumping C8 into a landfill near their farm.

What was Robert Bilott illness?

Bilott's health has taken a battering too. A mysterious neurological disorder struck him in 2008. He suffered tremors and a palsy on his right side which turned into violent shaking convulsions up and down the right side of his body. The episodes would return at unexpected moments, leaving Bilott incapacitated.

Who does Robert Bilott work for?

Robert Bilott is a partner at the law firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister, LLP in Cincinnati, Ohio where he has practiced environmental law and litigation for more than twenty-eight years.

Is C8 still used in Teflon?

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), also known as C8, is another man-made chemical. It has been used in the process of making Teflon and similar chemicals (known as fluorotelomers), although it is burned off during the process and is not present in significant amounts in the final products.

Is C8 in my blood?

According to a 2007 study, C8 is in the blood of 99.7% of Americans. It's called a "forever chemical" because it never fully degrades.

Is Dark Waters about Teflon?

Dark Waters depicts the real-life story of attorney Rob Bilott's fight to find justice for the community of Parkersburg in West Virginia after it's discovered that the DuPont chemical company (manufacturers of 'Teflon', the material used in the majority of non-stick cooking pans) have been illegally dumping toxic waste ...

Who is the lawyer for Dupont?

Bilott is known for the lawsuits against DuPont on behalf of plaintiffs from West Virginia. Bilott has spent more than twenty years litigating hazardous dumping of the chemicals perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS).

Who conducted the study of the farmer's property?

In response, DuPont advised that DuPont and the United States Environmental Protection Agency would commission a study of the farmer's property, conducted by three veterinarians chosen by DuPont and three chosen by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Where did Bilott start his law practice?

Bilott was admitted to the Bar in 1990 and began his law practice at Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP in Cincinnati, Ohio For eight years he worked almost exclusively for large corporate clients and his specialty was defending chemical companies. He became a partner at the firm in 1998.

Who is Robert Bilott?

Robert Bilott is the author of the acclaimed memoir Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer's Twenty-Year Battle Against DuPont, published in 2019 by Atria Books. The audio book version (also available through Atria Books) is narrated by Jeremy Bobb with the first chapter narrated by Mark Ruffalo.

Who played the lawyer in Dark Waters?

The Todd Haynes-directed movie Dark Waters, now playing in theaters, tells the story of how the lawyer, played by Mark Ruffalo, switched allegiances. As happened in real life, the movie depicts Ruffalo’s Bilott as a lawyer who defends large chemical companies before he is approached for help in 1998 by Wilbur Tennant (Bill Camp), ...

Who is the company in the Dark Waters suit?

The other companies named in the suit — the 3M Company, Dyneon, the Chemours Company, Archroma, Arkema, AGC, Daikin Industries and Solvay Specialty Polymers — did not respond to requests for comment.

Does Dupont make PFAS?

In a statement, DuPont defended its safety and environmental record, and said that it does not produce PFAS chemicals, though it does use them. “We are leading the industry by supporting federal legislation and science-based regulatory efforts to address these chemicals,” the company wrote in an email.

Who is Philippe Grandjean?

Philippe Grandjean, a professor of environmental health at Harvard, conducted a study that appeared to suggest that babies exposed to PFAS could suffer impaired immune-system development. “I fell off the chair,” says Dr. Grandjean. “When I looked at those data it was mind-boggling.”.

Does Bilott stop fighting PFAS?

But Bilott says he doesn’t have plans to ever stop fighting PFAS contamination.

How many acres did Jim and Della sell?

The property would have been even larger had his brother Jim and Jim’s wife, Della, not sold 66 acres in the early ’80s to DuPont. The company wanted to use the plot for a landfill for waste from its factory near Parkersburg, called Washington Works, where Jim was employed as a laborer.

Who said cows were dying left and right?

The farmer, Wilbur Tennant of Parkersburg, W.Va., said that his cows were dying left and right. He believed that the DuPont chemical company, which until recently operated a site in Parkersburg ...

How old was Wilbur Tennant when he visited the Grahams?

He was 7 years old. The visit to the Grahams’ farm was one of his happiest childhood memories. When the Grahams heard in 1998 that Wilbur Tennant was looking for legal help, they remembered Bilott, White’s grandson, who had grown up to become an environmental lawyer. They did not understand, however, that Bilott was not the right kind ...

Did Bilott represent plaintiffs?

He did not represent plaintiffs or private citizens. Like the other 200 lawyers at Taft, a firm founded in 1885 and tied historically to the family of President William Howard Taft, Bilott worked almost exclusively for large corporate clients. His specialty was defending chemical companies.

Who is the lawyer who became Dupont's worst nightmare?

In 2016, the New York Times published an article about Bilott's work, The Lawyer Who Became DuPont's Worst Nightmare. Of those who read the article, actor Mark Ruffalo, who was curious enough to reach out to Bilott directly about turning his story into a movie. Speaking to Variety, Ruffalo said, "I felt like the article probably couldn’t get ...

Who is Robert Bilott?

November 22, 2019. Robert Bilott always specialized in environmental law , but before 1998 he worked with large corporate clients, helping them understand and obey legislation relating to toxic materials and their release.

When did Du Pont get his law degree?

He received his law degree in 1963. After his political career, Mr. du Pont, from 1994 to 1997, was chairman of the National Review Institute, a New York think tank founded by William F. Buckley Jr., and a director of the law firm Richards, Layton & Finger in Wilmington.

When did Du Pont quit his job?

It was a part-time post, and for Mr. du Pont there was no need to leave the family business right away. But in 1970, he quit his job and moved up politically, beating a Democratic labor leader for Delaware’s one at-large seat in Congress. He was easily re-elected to two more terms.

How many terms did Pete Du Pont serve?

He served three terms in Congress and two terms as governor of Delaware. Credit... Pete du Pont, the scion of one of America’s wealthiest families and a two-term Republican governor of Delaware who presided over an economic revival in his debt-ridden state and in 1988 ran for the presidency, died on Saturday at his home in Wilmington, Del.

What was Pete du Pont's job?

Pete du Pont announcing his candidacy for the 1988 Republican presidential nomination. He served three terms in Congress and two terms as governor of Delaware.

What car did Du Pont drive?

He drove a Chevrolet, according to his classmates, and once buzzed up to New York City for a blind date with Jane Fonda, then a Vassar student. He didn’t know who she was until her father, Henry, answered the doorbell. “I was speechless,” Mr. du Pont told The Associated Press.

When was Du Pont born?

He offered no excuses but recalled saying from the outset that his campaign was “not for the fainthearted.”. Mr. du Pont was born in Wilmington on Jan. 22, 1935, the oldest of three children of Pierre S. du Pont III and Jane Holcomb du Pont.

Who was the Democratic opponent of Du Pont?

No governor in 20 years had survived more than one term in office, and Mr. du Pont’s opponent, the Democratic incumbent, Gov. Sherman W. Tribbitt, was no exception. Winning the governorship by 57 percent to 42 percent, Mr. du Pont got off to a bad start. He demanded spending cuts, called the average voter “Joe Six-Pack” — a gaffe ...