the lawyer who became dupont's

How many lawyers did Dupont hire to lead the DEP?

 · The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare Rob Bilott was a corporate defense attorney for eight years. Then he took on an environmental suit that would upend his entire career — and expose a...

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

The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s W orst Nightmare Rob Bilott was a corporate defense attorney for eight years. Then he took on an environmental suit that would upend his entire career — and expose a brazen, decades-long history of chemical pollution.

What was the lawsuit filed against DuPont in 1999?

The lawyer who became Dupont’s worst nightmare. Just months before Rob Bilott made partner at Taft Stettinius & Hollister, he received a call on his direct line from a cattle farmer. 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 that is …

Why did Dupont settle the Tennants case?

 · The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare ENVIRONMENT, 11 Jan 2016 Nathaniel Richjan – The New York Times Magazine Rob Bilott was a corporate defense attorney for eight years. Then he took on an environmental suit that would upend his entire career — and expose a brazen, decades-long history of chemical pollution.

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 · 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. Several times, Bilott had even worked on cases with DuPont lawyers.

How much did rob Bilott make from DuPont settlement?

$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.

Who was the lawyer that sued DuPont over Teflon?

Robert BilottRobert Bilott (born August 2, 1965) is an American environmental attorney from Cincinnati, Ohio. Bilott is known for the lawsuits against DuPont on behalf of plaintiffs from West Virginia.

What is Rob Bilott doing now?

Rob is a Fellow in the Right Livelihood College, a lecturer at the Yale School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, and an Honorary Professor at the National University of Cordoba in Argentina.

Is Rob Bilott still at Taft?

It wouldn't surprise anyone that a lawyer dogged as Bilott is continuing the same work. He remains at the same law firm he began at, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, having become a partner back in 1998.

Did Wilbur Tennant get a settlement?

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.

Is Dark Waters true story?

Dark Waters mostly stays true to the real story "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.

Is the DuPont lawsuit still going?

Corteva, formerly the agricultural division of DowDuPont, was spun off in 2019. Chemours sued DuPont in 2019, claiming that DuPont's liability estimates were “spectacularly wrong.” The case was dismissed in 2020 over procedural issues.

Who does Rob Bilott work for?

Taft Stettinius & Hollister, LLPRobert 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.

How much did Wilbur Tennant get from DuPont?

In a follow-up case in 2017, he won a $671 million settlement on behalf of more than 3,500 plaintiffs in personal-injury claims against DuPont. And here's where the story could end, the hero with his fist aloft.

Is Teflon still manufactured today?

DuPont phased out U.S. production of C-8 several years ago. Now it's made in China. Although it's still a widely used compound found in non-stick cookware, stain-resistant fabrics, and food wrappers here in the U.S.

Who sold Dupont land?

Jim Tennant and his wife, Della, sold DuPont a 66-acre tract of land that became part of the Dry Run Landfill. Credit Bryan Schutmaat for The New York Times

Where is Dupont's chemical site?

The chemical site near Parkersburg, W.Va., source of the waste at the center of the DuPont class-action lawsuit. Credit Bryan Schutmaat for The New York Times

Who is Rob Bilott?

Rob Bilott was a corporate defense attorney for eight years. Then he took on an environmental suit that would upend his entire career — and expose a brazen, decades-long history of chemical pollution.

How many cows did Wilbur Tennant have?

Wilbur Tennant explained that he and his four siblings had run the cattle farm since their father abandoned them as children. They had seven cows then. Over the decades they steadily acquired land and cattle, until 200 cows roamed more than 600 hilly acres. 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. Jim and Della did not want to sell, but Jim had been in poor health for years, mysterious ailments that doctors couldn’t diagnose, and they needed the money.

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.

How many cows did Wilbur Tennant have?

Wilbur Tennant explained that he and his four siblings had run the cattle farm since their father abandoned them as children. They had seven cows then. Over the decades they steadily acquired land and cattle, until 200 cows roamed more than 600 hilly acres. 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. Jim and Della did not want to sell, but Jim had been in poor health for years, mysterious ailments that doctors couldn’t diagnose, and they needed the money.

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 ...

Who was Bilott's grandmother?

Bilott struggled to make sense of everything he was saying. He might have hung up had Tennant not blurted out the name of Bilott’s grandmother, Alma Holland White. White had lived in Vienna, a northern suburb of Parkersburg, and as a child, Bilott often visited her in the summers.

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.

How long was Rob Bilott a lawyer?

Rob Bilott was a corporate defense attorney for eight years. Then he#N#took on an environmental suit that would upend his entire career —#N#and expose a brazen, decades-long history of chemical pollution.

How many cows did Wilbur Tennant have?

Wilbur Tennant explained that he and his four siblings had run the cattle farm since their father abandoned them as children. They had seven cows then. Over the decades they steadily acquired land and cattle, until 200 cows roamed more than 600 hilly acres. 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. Jim and Della did not want to sell, but Jim had been in poor health for years, mysterious ailments that doctors couldn’t diagnose, and they needed the money.

How did the lawyer become Dupont's worst nightmare?

USA: Lawyer “became DuPont’s worst nightmare” by uncovering toxic pollution, seeking to hold it accountable Wilbur Tennantsaid that his cows were dying (3) …

Who was Dupont's worst nightmare?

The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare – Rob Bilott was a corporate defense attorney for eight years. Then he took on an environmental suit that (31) …

How long was Rob Bilott a corporate defense attorney?

Nov 25, 2019 – Rob Bilott was a corporate defense attorney for eight years. Then he took on an environmental suit that would upend his entire career — and (18) …

Who wrote the article about Robert Bilott?

Nov 21, 2019 — Journalist Nathaniel Rich wrote about Robert Bilott in a New York Times Magazine article titled “The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare. (34) …

Who is Rob Bilott?

Nov 25, 2019 — Rob Bilott, a corporate lawyer-turned-environmental crusader, doesn’t much care if he’s made enemies over the years. “I’ve been dealing with (20) …

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).

What was the cause of the Dupont lawsuit?

After Bilott discovered that thousands of tons of DuPont's PFOA had been dumped into the landfill next to the Tennants' property and that DuPont's PFOA was contaminating the surrounding community's water supply, DuPont settled the Tennants' case. In August 2001, Bilott filed a class action lawsuit against DuPont on behalf of the approximately 70,000 people in West Virginia and Ohio with PFOA-contaminated drinking water, which was settled in September 2004, with class benefits valued at over $300 million, including DuPont agreeing to install filtration plants in the six affected water districts and dozens of impacted private wells, a cash award of $70 million, and provisions for future medical monitoring to be paid by DuPont up to $235 million, if an independent science panel confirmed "probable links" between PFOA in the drinking water and human disease. After the independent scientific panel jointly selected by the parties (but required under the settlement to be paid for by DuPont) found that there was a probable link between drinking PFOA and kidney cancer, testicular cancer, thyroid disease, high cholesterol, pre-eclampsia, and ulcerative colitis, Bilott began opening individual personal-injury lawsuits against DuPont on behalf of affected users of the Ohio and West Virginia water supplies, which by 2015 numbered over 3,500. After winning the first three for $19.7 million, in 2017 DuPont agreed to settle the remainder of the then-pending cases for $671.7 million. Dozens of additional cases filed after the 2017 settlement were settled in 2021 for an additional $83 million (announced in conjunction with a $4 billion settlement between DuPont and its spin-off, Chemours, over PFAS liabilities), bringing the total settlement value in the personal injury cases for those exposed to PFOA in their drinking water to over $753 million.

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 represented Wilbur Tennant?

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. 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. When the report was released, it blamed the Tennants for the dying cattle claiming that poor husbandry was responsible: "poor nutrition, inadequate veterinary care and lack of fly control."

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 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.

Who plays Bilott's wife in Dark Waters?

Bilott's story also became the basis for Dark Waters, a 2019 film starring Mark Ruffalo as Bilott, and Anne Hathaway as Bilott's wife, Sarah Barlage.

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.

Is Bilott still at Taft?

It wouldn't surprise anyone that a lawyer dogged as Bilott is continuing the same work. He remains at the same law firm he began at, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, having become a partner back in 1998. Just a few months ago on October 8, 2019, he published a book, Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer's Twenty-Year Battle against DuPont, that told the full story of his work to bring PFOAs, chemically stabilized substances unregulated and unresearched at the start of his investigation, to the attention of the Environmental Protection Agency and general public.