PFAS Litigation: Expert Depositions and Scientific Evidence

Mr. Brown develops and implements proactive, strategic solutions to the most complex environmental, health, and safety challenges companies face. He partners with clients to protect their interests and to advance business objectives throughout the full lifecycle of environmental and products liability litigations and regulatory matters. Mr. Brown's practice focuses on environmental litigation, environmental regulation, product liability, toxic torts, ESG, and transactional due diligence. He has successfully defended claims in numerous federal and state courts across the country, including the first two natural resource damage actions to ever go to trial in New Jersey (both of which resulted in complete defense verdicts). Mr. Brown also regularly counsels buyers, sellers, lenders, and underwriters on the full spectrum of environmental issues that may affect transactions. He has extensive experience addressing litigation and regulatory matters involving natural resource damages, contaminated sediments, and emerging chemicals of concern, particularly per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Mr. Brown has been recognized by both Chambers USA and Legal 500 for his expertise in environmental and toxic tort litigation, including PFAS litigation.

Dr. Pietari has more than 20 years of professional and academic experience in environmental remediation, the fate and transport of contaminants, the reconstruction of environmental releases to groundwater and sediments, and environmental forensics. She has evaluated the sources and fate and transport of emerging contaminants, such as PFAS and 1,2,3-trichloropropane (1,2,3-TCP); chlorinated solvents; polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs); petroleum hydrocarbons; and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Dr. Pietari's consulting assignments involve various environmental media, including soil, groundwater, and sediments, in settings from residential properties to urban mega-sites and industrial facilities, integrated steel mills, refineries, petroleum terminals, pharmaceutical manufacturing plants, agricultural chemical distribution facilities, and manufacturing sites. She has supported clients in identifying and evaluating sources of contaminants, including conducting investigations to identify sources of PFAS in stormwater and in consumer products and the associated manufacturing processes, and in developing strategies to replace PFAS-containing firefighting foams.

Mr. Schifrin is first and foremost a litigator. Adept at synthesizing complex facts and legal argument in support of his clients, he is a loyal and tireless advocate with a proven track record of success.

Mr. Schifrin brings these skills to bear in products liability, toxic tort, and environmental matters across the country. He served as trial counsel in the first ever trial involving claims of environmental PFAS contamination and litigates other PFAS-related personal injury cases involving claims of negligence, public/private nuisance, trespass, and strict products liability. Mr. Schifrin has also led case work-up in a multimillion-dollar products liability litigation involving personal injury and product liability claims stemming from plaintiffs’ alleged exposure to glyphosate-based herbicides.

Mr. Schifrin's practice includes extensive expert discovery work, including taking expert depositions and preparing and defending expert witnesses at deposition and trial. He has a knack for helping experts develop into effective testifiers capable of providing readily digestible and jury-friendly testimony on complex scientific topics. In addition to his expert work, Mr. Schifrin has considerable experience preparing corporate witnesses in both their personal and representative capacities, drafting dispositive and other motions, and managing corporate discovery issues, including the review and analysis of corporate documents to prepare strategic defenses to likely liability themes.