Calhoun/Holiday Place v. Bowman and CES Environmental Services, Inc.; 80th Judicial District Court of Harris County, Texas
Jan 01, 2013
OUTCOME: Case settled two weeks before trial at mediation. The amount of the settlement is confidential.
Mr. Maierson was hired in August of 2012, several weeks before trial to represent a Plaintiff who was a prominent land developer and had developed a subdivision for approximately 120 townhomes on the f...ence line with CES Environmental Services. The Plaintiff was unable to sell his lots as a result of the odors that constituted a nuisance from CES’ operation next door which caused the City of Houston to issue 34 odor nuisance violations to CES from 2008-2011. At the time Mr. Maierson entered the case, a motion for summary judgment on limitations against Plaintiff had already been argued. The Court in November 2012 granted Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment. After extensive motion practice, briefing and oral argument before the Court, Mr. Maierson in January 2013 was able to convince the Court to reverse its ruling. The case was reset for trial with Mr. Maierson being lead trial counsel.
Environmental and natural resources
Jones, Jr., et al v. CES Environmental Services, Inc., et al.; In the 61st Judicial District Court of Harris County, Texas
May 15, 2012
OUTCOME: In May 2012, about two weeks before trial, the case was settled and the amount is confidential.
Mr. Maierson was asked by Benjamin L. Hall III of The Hall Law Firm who was formerly City Attorney for the City of Houston and is now running for mayor of the City of Houston to assist him in the prose...cution of an environmental case involving approximately 140 plaintiffs who lived in close proximity to the CES Environmental Services' facility on Griggs Road in Houston, Texas. The plaintiffs chief complaints were of odor nuisance as a result of the facility's operations. After Mr. Maierson was retained in 2010, he sued approximately 40 generator defendants who had brought their waste material, by-product, or products to the CES facility to be stored, reprocessed or transported.
Environmental and natural resources
Lyondell Chemical Co. & ARCO v. Albemarle Corp., et al.; In the U.S.D.C. Eastern District of Texas; Beaumont Division
Dec 03, 2007
OUTCOME: December 3, 2007 Judgement of $4,702,852.00.
Retained by plaintiffs Lyondell Chemical Co & Atlantic Richfield Co (ARCO), filed suit against Defendant Lubrizol Corp & other Defendants under the COMPREHENSIVE ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSE, COMPENSATION, &... LIABILITY ACT OF 1980 (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. § 9601-9675. The facts of this case are straight forward: plaintiffs entered into a Consent Decree with the U S of America to clean up a superfund site in Liberty County known as the Turtle Bayou (TB) Superfund Site, but the procedural & evidentiary process has been very complex.
Plaintiffs spent well over $29 million to date in response costs for remediation at the TB Site & brought suit in Dec of 2002 against Lubrizol, ExxonMobil & U. S. Steel & other Defendants pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 9607 & 9613. The case was originally filed before U.S. District Judge Howell Cobb, who bifurcated the trial into 2 phases, i.e. Phase I Liability & Phase II Allocation. Judge Cobb heard the evidence on the Phase I Liability portion of the case between 3/21 & 4/ 21, 2005. Unfortunately, before Judge Cobb could complete his FOF&C of Law, he passed away suddenly. The case was reassigned in Oct of 2005 to U.S. District Judge Marcia Crone.
Judge Crone heard some of the witnesses who had previously testified in the liability trial before Judge Cobb during a RULE 63 Hearing held from 2/13 - 02/21/06, & then the Court rendered its Findings of Fact & Conclusions of Law for the liability phase of the trial on 04/17/06. The Court found Lubrizol wastes were dumped at the TB Site in its Findings of Fact & also found that Lubrizol's hazardous substances were released at the site. The Court held in its Conclusions of Law that the Plaintiffs had established by a preponderance of the evidence that Lubrizol arranged for the disposal of hazardous waste at the site, that Plaintiffs have proven all the elements of their prima faca case against Lubrizol, & therefore Lubrizol was a covered person & liable to Plaintiffs under § 9613 of CERCLA.
Prior to the start of the Allocation portion of the trial (Phase II) which was conducted between 3/21 & 4/18 & 5/1/ - 6/8/07, the Court pursuant to FED. R. CIV. P. 706 retained Dr. Charles J. Newell, Ph.D, P.E., .DEE, Vice President of Groundwater Services, Inc., 2211 Norfolk, #1000, Houston, Tx to assist the Court in understanding some of the highly technical issues involved in the waste chemistry & remediation process. Dr. Newell rendered 5 reports, was deposed for a week & testified at the Phase II trial for 4 days. On 12/03/07 the Court issued its Amended FOF&C of Law & simultaneously filed a Final Judgment. Mr. Maierson was able to obtain a judgment against the Lubrizol Corp under 42 U.S.C. § 9613 in the amount of $4,702,852.00. The Court further held that Lubrizol was 15.96% responsible for the cleanup costs. With the pre-judgment interest it is estimated that the judgment will be approximately $5,512,000.00.
In addition to the stated amounts, the Plaintiffs were granted a Declaratory Judgment pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 9613(f)(1) for further response costs & damages, which are estimated to be approximately $3,000,000.00. The Court also allowed post-judgment interest at the rate of 3.25% from 10/3/07 until paid.
Prior to the Rule 63 Hearing in Feb of 2006 Mr. Maierson obtained a settlement against another responsible party, U S Steel Corp, in the amount of $900,000.00 for Plaintiffs Lyondell & ARCO.
In January of 2008 the case was appealed by Lubrizol to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. Mr. Maierson & the firm fully participated in the appellant process & was co-counsel with another firm on all briefs that went to the 5th Circuit.
In June of 2009 the case was settled after mediation & prior to oral arguments before the 5th Circuit. The amount of the settlement was approximately 90% of the Judgment including the pre and post trial interest & additional post remediation costs that Plaintiffs will incur in the future.
Environmental and natural resources
Neftali Aldana, et al. v. Joiner Liquidating Trust, et al.; In the 75th Judicial District Court, Liberty County, Texas
Oct 31, 2007
OUTCOME: October of 2007 the case was resolved.
Retained to represent approximately 364 plaintiffs who a few months earlier had discovered that they lived in close proximity to an abandoned industrial landfill in Liberty County, Texas operated by Li...berty Waste Disposal Company and used primarily by Exxon, U. S. Steel and the Lubrizol Corporation. Suit was filed in early 2004 in the 75th District Court of Liberty County which included approximately 37 defendant chemical companies along with the Weldon W. Alders and Medland Investments, L.L.C. who were the developers of the subdivisions in which the plaintiffs resided. Mr. Maierson and the Firm started aggressive discovery in the case to determine the nature of the wastes at the landfill along with the extent of the dumping by the companies involved. The discovery for the plaintiffs consisted of answering interrogatories, requests for production, requests for disclosure and requests for admissions propounded to each plaintiff along with over 200 plaintiffs giving their depositions. Additionally, Mr. Maierson worked closely with the TCEQ to have the site declared a State Superfund Site and is now scheduled for remediation. There were several separate mediations both with the generator defendants and the developer defendants which ultimately resulted in each of the defendants paying their share towards settlements. Commencing in 2006 Mr. Maierson was able to obtain settlements from various generator defendants and in 2007 was able to obtain a significant settlement from the developer and also the main generator defendants ExxonMobil, Lubrizol and U. S. Steel. By October of 2007 the case was resolved and all defendants paid funds to the plaintiffs and the total amount is confidential.
Environmental and natural resources
City of Pearland vs. McGuff Associates Architects, et al.; In the 23rd Judicial District of Brazoria County, Texas
Dec 31, 2004
OUTCOME: The case settled in 2004.
retained by the City of Pearland in 2002 to represent it for reimbursement of the costs of remediation of mold in its new library facility. The City of Pearland had recently constructed a new 18,500 s...quare foot library and shortly after the opening of the library in 2001 the library experienced a serious mold problem requiring all the books to be manually wiped and cleaned as part of the remediation process. The firm filed suit in Brazoria County in District Court against the architectural firms, the general contractor, the firm that designed the mechanical system and oversaw the purchase and proper installation of HVAC for the library, the company that installed the HVAC system and one of the suppliers of equipment for the HVAC. After extensive discovery including expert reports Plaintiffs proved that the design and installation of the HVAC equipment was defective and that the relative humidity in the city’s library was found to be at 76% when said system should have kept the relative humidity at 45% to 50% and that was the proximate cause of the mold problem. The case was settled favorably for the City of Pearland at mediation in 2004.
Environmental and natural resources
Bernard Dobyanski, et al. v. Southwestern Gas Pipeline, Inc., et al; In the 278th District Court of Grimes County, Texas
Dec 31, 2004
OUTCOME: Settled in 2004 at mediation.
Retained to represent approximately thirty (30) Plaintiffs who lived in a pastoral setting in Grimes County, Texas until 1995 when the Defendants Southwestern Gas Pipeline, Inc. and Mitchell Energy bui...lt a gas gathering and treating processing facility literally in their backyard. Suit was filed in 1997 in Grimes County, Texas under the theory of a nuisance, and after extensive litigation including numerous depositions of representatives of the Defendants and TCEQ the case was settled at mediation in 2004. The settlement although confidential fully compensated each Plaintiff for the diminution in value of their properties as a result of living close in proximity to the gas processing facility. Additionally, the Defendants were required to redesign portions of their facility to reduce the noise level and eliminate all emissions from their flare stack.
Environmental and natural resources
Ernesto Abarca, et al.; In the 253rd Judicial District Court, Liberty County, Texas
Dec 31, 2004
OUTCOME: Served as Special Master.
In 2003 the Honorable Chap B. Cain, III Judge of the 253rd Court of Liberty County, Texas appointed Mr. Maierson to be the Special Master pursuant to Rule 171 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure in t...he above two toxic tort cases for exposures to LPG Gas arising out of a pipeline rupture in 1997 in Liberty County, Texas. As part of Mr. Maierson’s duties as Special Master he devised a complex formula to allocate the aggregate settlement funds to each individual plaintiff, sent out settlement letters advising each plaintiff of their individual award, had each plaintiff execute a Settlement Statement and Release. Additionally he conducted extensive appeal hearings for those plaintiffs who had questions with regard to their individual award. Mr. Maierson also reviewed the expenses of the plaintiffs’ attorneys involved, approved expenses and attorneys’ fees and filed a formal report with the Court after all the plaintiffs signed releases and accepted their settlement award.
Environmental and natural resources
Gerald L. Allman, et al. v. Crown Central Petroleum Corporation; In the 334th Judicial District Court of Harris County, Texas
Dec 31, 2003
OUTCOME: Settled in 2003.
Lead Counsel for approximately 350 residents who live in close proximity to several chemical plants in the Pasadena area. The plaintiffs sued on a nuisance theory alleging that excessive bright lights..., noise, and odors from the plants caused them mental anguish and diminution of property value. This case was settled in 2003 and the amount of the settlement is confidential.
Environmental and natural resources
Jesus Arana, Indiv., Juan Amador, Indiv, and Juan Andrade, Indiv; In the 127th Judicial District Court, Harris County, Texas
Jun 29, 2001
OUTCOME: Settled in June of 2001 after mediation.
Represented four workers who were severely injured as a result of an explosion at the Shell Refinery in Deer Park, Texas in June of 1997. The explosion was the result of a defectively designed valve t...hat failed causing highly flammable chemicals to leak and subsequently ignite. The case was settled in June of 2001 after mediation.
Environmental and natural resources
Dorothy Adams, et al. v. Chevron U.S.A., Inc., et al.; In the U.S.D.C. for the Southern District of Texas; Houston Division
Dec 29, 2000
OUTCOME: Appointed guardian ad litem in August of 1999.
Appointed in August 1999 by the Honorable Judge David Hitner to be guardian ad litem and represent the interest of all 837 minor plaintiffs and incapacitated adults in this complex environmental case. ... Mr. Maierson reviewed each minor and incapacitated adult’s medical records, interrogatory answers, expert reports, and a portion of the trial testimony, and the applicability of the award formula prepared by the special master to be sure that each minor or incapacitated adult obtained the proper award. Additionally, Mr. Maierson drafted numerous documents for each next friend to either review and/or sign. As part of Mr. Maierson’s appointment he has also reviewed over $6,000,000 in case expenses from the Law Firm of John O’Quinn to determine the validity of Mr. O’Quinn’s claim for reimbursed of case costs out of the settlement proceeds.
