BarbriSFCourseDetails

Course Details

This CLE course will provide counsel advising parties in a contaminated site cleanup with guidance on both protecting the interests of settling potentially responsible parties (PRPs) and, on the other hand, protecting the contribution interests of non-settling PRPs.

Faculty

Description

Settlements resolve most Superfund matters--settlements with regulators and settlements among private parties. But, not all settlements are created equal, provide the protection-release that parties seek, or preserve the contribution and cost recovery rights that releasors intend to retain.

The U.S. Supreme Court's decisions in Guam v. United States and Atlantic Richfield Co. v. Christian and lower court decisions such as New Jersey DEP v. American Thermoplastics Corp., Arconic v. APC Investment, and ASARCO L.L.C. v. Union Pac. RR Co. provide lessons and guidance for practitioners.

This program will evaluate the risks and rewards of CERCLA settlements and how to craft them--or attack them--to best protect client interests.

Listen as our authoritative panel of environmental law attorneys examines recent PRP intervention trends and developments and offers best practices for CERCLA settlements, including settlement incentives for PRPs and when a PRP should settle.

Outline

  1. Administrative orders and agreements and consent decrees: settling with the government
  2. Allocation agreements and cash-outs: private party settlements
  3. Intervention and other challenges to settlements
  4. Recent CERCLA decisions involving settlements
  5. Best practices for protecting client interests

Benefits

The panel will review these and other key issues:

  • How can a settling PRP minimize the risk of future claims?
  • What can a non-settling party do to mitigate the risk of disproportionate liability?
  • Under what circumstances should a PRP seek to participate in a settlement?
  • What strategies should PRPs employ to protect their contribution interests in settlements to which they are not a party?