Trial Magazine

When a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 3, it was another instance of a giant corporation endangering the public. Now the people of East Palestine must recover from massive environmental damage caused by a company that paid its shareholders billions in 2022, while at the same time reducing staff and training. This recent event demonstrates an incontrovertible truth: It is the plaintiffs and the trial lawyers who represent them who will fill the void.

Even after this catastrophe, Norfolk Southern has not supported portions of bipartisan bills aimed at improving rail safety. But they must be held accountable. Trial lawyers are working to help the victims and their families—they are gathering information and investigating the decisions that led to this horrible event.

East Palestine isn’t the only area where trial lawyers and their clients are leading the fight to hold negligent companies accountable for devastating harm. When it came to light that a sterilization solutions company was exposing residents in Willowbrook, Ill., for years to ethylene oxide (an invisible, flammable gas that the EPA has classified as a “known” carcinogen since 2016), it was trial attorneys and their clients who worked to hold the company accountable.

AAJ is advocating in Congress to protect the rights of victims who are killed or injured by dangerous products, contaminated water, chemical dumping, dirty air, and oil spills.

AAJ is here to support us and our clients, advocating in Congress to protect the rights of victims who are killed or injured by dangerous products, contaminated water, chemical dumping, dirty air, and oil spills. AAJ’s robust amicus curiae program weighs in primarily in the U.S. Supreme Court, federal circuit courts of appeals, and state supreme courts in support of plaintiffs’ access to justice, including cases involving toxic exposure.

In Hardeman v. Monsanto, for example, in its amicus brief AAJ successfully urged the Ninth Circuit to reject the assertion that EPA approval of Roundup’s active ingredient would preempt state law claims that the company failed to warn of the known dangers of the weed killer. The Supreme Court denied Monsanto’s cert petition. To access AAJ’s amicus briefs, visit www.justice.org/amicusbriefs.

AAJ also provides many resources for members with cases related to toxic exposure, such as the newly formed Environmental and Toxic Torts Section, and related Litigation Groups. Learn more at www.justice.org/sections and www.justice.org/litgroups. You can attend the Section’s business meeting and CLE program during AAJ’s Annual Convention in Philadelphia next month (justiceannualconvention.org).

For members looking for guidance in handling train derailment cases, you can access AAJ Education’s recent webinar on the topic at www.justice.org/education/on-demand-cle. AAJ also offers litigation packets for guidance in representing plaintiffs in Roundup cases or talcum powder litigation (www.justice.org/community/legal-research).

And in this month’s Trial, learn about the nuts and bolts of cancer cluster cases (p. 20); toxic exposure case intake (p. 50); climate change litigation (p. 28); and the hidden dangers in cosmetic products (p. 40).

When corporations aren’t held accountable, people are harmed and then abandoned. AAJ and its members will continue to fight to protect workers, consumers, and families from toxic chemicals and environmental harms—and to demand corporate accountability.

Tad Thomas is the founder and the managing partner of Thomas Law Offices in Louisville, Ky., and can be reached at tad.thomas@justice.org.