Admitted:
-State Bar of Texas- 1975
-State Bar of California- 1976
-State Bar of New York- 2008
-U.S District Court, Southern District of Texas
-U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth and Eleventh Circuits
-U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas
-U.S District Court of ArizonaCertified:
-Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law 1992
-Texas Board of Legal Specialization
-Rated AV by Martindale-Hubbell Ratings (highest rating).
Education:
-University of Connecticut (B.A. magna cum laude 1972)
-University of Houston School of Law (J.D. 1975)
Member:
-Houston and American Bar Associations
-The Association of Trial Lawyers of America
-Texas Trial Lawyers Association
Mr. Reich graduated from the University of Houston Law Center where he was nominated as a Member of the Order of the Barons. In 1984 he co-founded Reich & Binstock LLP in Houston, Texas and has devoted his practice almost exclusively to toxic and environmental litigation. During this time he has been involved in numerous significant complex multiparty cases.
Mr. Reich is presently counsel of record for plaintiffs in the case captioned Captain Edward Lockridge, et al. v. BP, plc, BP Products North America, Inc., BP America, Inc., et al. filed in U.S. District Court, Southern District of Alabama, Case No. 1:10-cv-00233. Through his work in this arena he has developed strong working relationships with several attorneys who are involved in the prosecution of cases within this MDL proceeding.
Mr. Reich has had the honor to serve on the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee in MDL 1873, In Re: FEMA Trailer Formaldehyde Products Liability Litigation in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana ("FEMA Trailer"). During his service on the PSC in FEMA Trailer, he served as lead and co-lead counsel in two trials: Lyndon T. Wright v. Forest River, Inc., et al., Docket No. 09-2977 and Castanel, et. al. v Recreation by Design, LLC, et. al., Docket No. 09-3251. His principal role in FEMA was to work with experts and develop the toxicological and environmental evidence for presentation to the jury. Much like BP, FEMA Trailer litigation has been large in scope including over 140,000 formaldehyde laden trailers that were issued to residents of the Gulf Coast states that had been impacted by Hurricane Katrina. Mr. Reich played a major role as trial counsel in both Wright and Castanel.
Mr. Reich is currently fully engaged in BP (MDL 2179) and is representing approximately 3,000 blue water claimants and numerous property damage and business claimants. Along with a team of lawyers that have been active in the BP litigation, he has been regularly interfacing with clients in New Orleans, Biloxi, Ocean Springs and Panama City. He has also engaged experts with various technical backgrounds who are interested in contributing their knowledge and expertise.
Mr. Reich is a former contributing editor to Mealy's Toxic Tort Reporter and has lectured at law schools and Bar sponsored seminars throughout the country and in Europe on developing and trying toxic tort cases.
Mr. Reich has served as either lead or co-lead counsel in numerous large-scale toxic tort cases and has been successful in obtaining recoveries for thousands of clients.
Mr. Reich served as lead counsel in the largest gasoline spill in U.S. history (Cause No. D-151227; Jack W. Ainsworth, et al. vs. Colonial Pipeline Company, Texaco, Inc., Texaco Pipeline, Inc., Texaco Chemical Pipeline Company and Lynchburg Shipyard; In the 136th Judicial District Court of Jefferson County, Texas). Many of his most significant have been fought against major multinational oil companies where large quantities of refinery waste, by-products and emissions escaped into community, air, soil and groundwater.
Examples of such cases include:
Julian Simms, Jr., et al. v. Amerada Hess Corporation, et al; Cause No. 93-5767-B; in the 117th Judicial District Court of Nueces County, Texas. Amerada was a property damage class which was certified against 12 oil refining companies for damages arising out of the escape of pollutants into soil and groundwater for approximately 5,000 properties in the Corpus Christi ship channel. Extensive modeling was done involving releases of benzene and hexavalent chrome into the airspace, soils and groundwater of nearby residential communities.
Lillian Hayden, Thomas Hayden, Ann Kay, James Killough, Charles Roessner and Judith Roessner, et al, v. Atochem North America, Inc., Elf Aquitaine, Ind., Elf Atochem North America, Inc.; C.A. No. H-92-1054, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston, Division. Mr. Reich acted as lead counsel in a cutting edge case involving the certification of a property damage and medical monitoring class with actual implementation of a medical monitoring protocol for thousands of persons who were exposed to arsenic in their residential soil, air and groundwater. Extensive state of the art modeling was used to develop the overall extent of the exposure and injury to the clients. A property damage class was certified where methodologies were employed to assess property damage associated with both measured and modeled concentrations of arsenic. Some of the same defense counsel in Hayden are currently on the pleadings for BP.
In Re: MTBE Product Liability Litigation, MDL 1358, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York. Mr. Reich served as a member of the Plaintiffs' Executive Committee from January 2001 to September 2002 in MDL 1358, during which many of Judge Scheindlin's seminal opinions regarding standing and concurrent liability, including market share liability were written. His involvement focused on the behavior and transport of MTBE in groundwater plumes.
Jack W. Ainsworth, et al. vs. Colonial Pipeline Company, Texaco, Inc., Texaco Pipeline, Inc., Texaco Chemical Pipeline Company and Lynchburg Shipyard; No. D-151227; In the 136th Judicial District Court of Jefferson County, Texas. A large storm caused four pipelines owned by Texaco, Inc., Valero Energy Corp and Colonial Pipeline to rupture releasing gasoline, fuel oil and oil, and natural gas which produced the largest gasoline spill in U.S. history. The floodwater caught fire creating a river on fire. Large quantities of gasoline, fuel oil, crude and natural gas were released that enveloped riverbank communities affecting 14,000 persons. Mr. Reich served as lead counsel in the case that went to trial and ultimately resulted in a settlement. In addition to the residential plaintiffs, he served as lead counsel for several hundred Vietnamese fishermen who were prohibited from fishing in the water.
New Jersey Natural Resource Damage Litigation - Three actions filed in Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division - Essex County: a) NJDEP v. PSE&G, Docket No. CAM-L-3337-07; b) NJDEP v. Mallinckrodt Baker, Docket No. NRN-L-295-07; and c) NJDEP v. Occidental (Polyone), Docket No. BUR-L-1744-07. Mr. Reich has been designated as "Special Counsel" by the State of New Jersey in raising damage claims brought by the State of New Jersey for damages to natural resources owned by the State.
In re Swanson Creek Oil Spill Litigation, Master Case No. PJM-2000-1429, (Williams v. Potomac Elect. Power Co., PJM-2000-1429 [115 F.Supp.2d 561], U.S. District Court District of Maryland, Southern Division). Mr. Reich was counsel in an early OPA case involving the rupture of a pipeline that released over 100,000 gallons of fuel oil that entered the Patuxent River. In this case Mr. Reich focused on the development of the property damages and worked with models to estimate the impact to property values, particularly riverfront properties.
Olachukwu Nnadili, et al. v. Chevron U.S.A., Inc., Civil Action No. 02-1620 (ESH); U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. This case was settled in 2008. Nnadili, involved the longest BTEX and MTBE plume in the nation that impacted a residential neighborhood resulting from the release of gasoline from a leaking underground storage tank from a former Chevron station. Several hundred property owners sued for property damage and anxieties associated with living above a contaminated area.
Elzina Avalos, et al. vs. Atlantic Richfield Company, et al., Civil Action No. H-89-3487; U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division. This case involved two Superfund sites that emitted hazardous chemicals as a result of dumping activities by major petrochemical companies between 1961 and 1972. The plaintiffs' causes of action were based upon negligence, gross negligence, nuisance, trespass and CERCLA. During this case Mr. Reich had a team of thirty-five expert witnesses from a variety of different fields such as occupational medicine, pulmonary medicine, neurophysiology, environmental medicine, air dispersion modeling, emission rates modeling, and statistical property appraisal evaluate the impact of the Superfund sites on the property values and health of 1,700 plaintiffs.
Author & Speaker:
-Mealey's MTBE Litigation Conference, New York, NY (December 5, 2006)
-Mealey's MTBE Litigation Conference, Santa Monica, CA (June 5, 2007)
-Former Co-Editor, Mealey's Toxic Tort Reporter
-Co-Chairman Mealey's UST and Fossil Fuel Litigation Conference, Phoenix, Arizona (October 23-24, 2000)
-Environmental Contamination Treatise: Overview of the Litigation Process,' Mason, Migliaccio, Reich and Howell, 37 Environmental Law Reporter 10057
-"After the Dust Settles: Clearing the Air in the Debate over the Carcinogenicity of Diesel Exhaust to Humans"
-Houston Bar Association Energy and Environmental Law Institute, Houston, Texas (December 2, 1999)
-"Toxic Torts After Daubert and Beyond"; State Bar of Texas 11th Annual Advanced Personal Injury Law Course, Fort Worth, Texas (August 2, 1995)
-"Product Liability Law in Texas"; Mealey's Underground Storage Tank Litigation Conference, Amelia Island, Florida (June 8-9, 1998)
-"What Works and What Doesn't In Settling Mass Tort Claims"; South Texas College of Law Seminar: 5th Annual Environmental Law Symposium, Houston, Texas (1995)
-"Problems and Pitfalls in Initiating an Environmental Cause of Action."
Practice areas:
-Toxic and Environmental Torts
-Complex Litigation
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