Scientific Litigation Support
COEH provides health-based scientific litigation support for cases involving occupational exposures, consumer products, toxic tort, insurance claims, and more. Our highly trained scientists provide valuable litigation assistance allowing attorneys to remain focused on legal matters. Our success lies in the fact that COEH is able to develop effective litigation support strategies, educate the legal team on the scientific evidence, and present the facts in a concise and compelling fashion.
Services
• Expert Witness Services. Our highly qualified scientists have served as expert witnesses in numerous cases involving occupational exposures, hazardous chemical exposures, and worker’s compensation.
• Development and Review of Supporting Material. COEH provides valuable assistance developing technical arguments and deposition strategies. Our scientists also deliver insightful reviews of deposition transcripts, discovery documents, and other technical material related to the litigation.
• Determination of Health and Safety Liabilities Associated with Mergers and Acquisitions. COEH conducts health and safety due diligence in order to identify potential liabilities that may impact sales transactions.
• Risk Assessments Designed to Assess Liability. Using available quantitative and qualitative information, COEH performs health risk assessments that can be used to assess liability in toxic tort cases. By evaluating exposure potential and toxicology literature, COEH develops concise interpretations regarding the strengths and weaknesses of causation claims.
• Regulatory Interpretations and Compliance. With the ever-changing policy landscape, COEH provides clients with reliable interpretations of OSHA and CPSC regulations. With cases involving compliance, our scientists will assess standard operating practices to determine if facilities meet all applicable health and safety regulations.
Case Study
COEH served as an expert witness in litigation involving an individual alleging medical symptoms and an increased cancer risk from exposures at a hazardous waste site. The plaintiff operated thermal remediation equipment to clean soils contaminated with coal tar residues containing polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and other chemicals. Site workers did not have appropriate personal protective equipment or access to adequate decontamination facilities, resulting in dermal exposure to site contaminants. The plaintiff claimed that his exposure was due to the failure of the former site owner and its prime contractor to fulfill their health and safety responsibilities at the site.
COEH critically reviewed depositions, site plans and other documents, and integrated previous hazardous waste experience and detailed knowledge of OSHA requirements to develop an expert opinion supporting the plaintiff’s claim. We developed insightful lines of questioning to guide the plaintiff’s attorney when deposing key witnesses. A critical contribution from COEH was an argument based on OSHA’s multi-employer worksite policy. Based on this policy, the former owner and its prime contractor were the “creating” and “controlling” employers, meaning they:
• created the hazard;
• were responsible for health and safety conditions at the worksite;
• had the authority for ensuring hazardous conditions were corrected; and
• were ultimately responsible for health and safety at the site.
COEH developed and supported a compelling argument that these companies had failed in their duty to provide a safe and healthful worksite, thus causing hazardous exposures to the plaintiff.