In a landmark case involving approximately 18,000 plaintiffs, The Cochran Firm announced that they have reached a $700 million environmental case settlement against defendant Monsanto, Pharmacia and Solutia, Inc. The plaintiffs, consisting of Anniston, Alabama residents, allege that they have suffered severe medical injuries resulting from claimed exposure to the toxic industrial chemical known as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). This PCB lawsuit is double the monetary settlement won against Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) in the famed environmental pollution case highlighted in the motion picture “Erin Brockovich.”
“The settlement is a result of our efforts to fulfill those promises we made to the thousands of Anniston residents we met with two years ago,” said attorney Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr., senior partner of The Cochran Firm. “This case was truly a labor of love, as we had vowed to do what we could to help clean up the Anniston, Alabama community.”
In addition to the exposure to PCBs, plaintiffs, including adults and children, have also specified 10 different health categories into which they claim their medical injuries fall, including cancer, liver disease, neurological disorders, and heart disease. The $700 million historical settlement will include numerous community programs and other benefits that will enhance and protect the well-being of those affected.
Judge U.W. Clemons, Senior Federal Judge in Birmingham, Alabama, who presided over the case, was instrumental in bringing about the settlement and will continue to monitor the total clean up of the community through a special master to be appointed.
Other attorneys involved in this monumental case include Jock Smith, Keith Givens, and Sam Cherry of the Cochran Firm, as well as Jere Beasley, Rhon Jones, and David Byrne of Beasley Allen law firm.
About the Cochran Firm
Johnnie Cochran’s national law firm of Cochran, Cherry, Givens & Smith, P.C., through a series of merges, office expansions, regional partnerships, and joint law firm ventures, emerged to become “The Cochran Firm,” America’s largest personal injury plaintiffs tort law firm. The multi-cultural firm, which consists of more than 100 lawyers available for and devoted to civil trial litigation, has offices throughout the nation including, California, New York, Alabama, Illinois, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, and Washington, D.C.
