Law Seminars International Presents

An Advanced Two-Day Conference on

Natural Resource Damages Litigation

New Developments & Emerging Strategies

November 30 & December 1, 2006
Sheraton Newark Airport Hotel in Newark, NJ
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Who Should Attend

Attorneys, consultants and all governmental or private practice environmental professionals

Why Attend

Natural Resource Damages claims under federal and state environmental laws have emerged as a critical issue as federal, state and tribal governments turn to assessment and litigation of potential multi-million dollar claims for alleged decades-long industrial impact to biological and physical resources, including protected species, vegetation and groundwater. Regulators and trustees continue to express interest in addressing NRD at surface water and sediment sites. These cases, which typically involve multiple parties, complex scientific and economic analyses, and uncharted legal waters, are on the cutting edge of environmental law. We have brought together a group of distinguished and experienced speakers, who are actively involved in both prosecuting and defending these complex claims throughout the United States. They include counsel, nationally-known scientists and economists who have been and are currently engaged in litigation in several states, including substantial Natural Resource Damages claims. This is a unique opportunity to hear from the experts in this area in an informal setting. You won't want to miss it! ~ Program Co-Chairs: Ira M. Gottlieb, Esq. and David B. Schwartzberg

What You Will Learn

* Recovery regimes: federal claims under CERCLA, the Clean Water Act and Oil Pollution Act * The Natural Resource Damages program in New Jersey * The Passaic River update: a case study of the complexity of joint federal/state involvement with multiple industrial parties * Litigation update * Minimizing Natural Resource Damages liabilities: defenses and strategies * Technical modeling of Natural Resource Damages * Legal/scientific modeling of Natural Resource Damages * Economic modeling of Natural Resource Damages * NRD and Daubert * What are other states doing? * Mediating Natural Resource Damages claims

What Attendees Have Said About Similar Programs

~ Case examples were useful in putting it all together ~ Presenters were well-prepared ~ Content excellent ~ Appreciated honest discussions!

Agenda

Thursday, November 30, 2006
8:00 am Registration & Continental Breakfast
8:30 am Introduction & Overview
  Ira M. Gottlieb, Esq., Program Co-Chair
 McCarter & English LLP / Newark, NJ
  David B. Schwartzberg, Program Co-Chair, President
 Restera, LLC / Fanwood, NJ
8:45 am Recovery Regimes: Federal Claims Under CERCLA, the Clean Water Act and Oil Pollution Act
  Who can seek damages; elements of damages claims; components of restoration; approach to hazardous substances vs. oil; case study of each; opportunities for cooperative problem solving
  James A. Bruen, Esq.
 Farella Braun + Martel LLP / San Francisco, CA
9:30 am The Natural Resource Damages Program in New Jersey
  The resource-to-resource form of compensation developed by the state as a new paradigm for companies to resolve natural resource damages liabilities; examples of innovative in-kind compensation solutions
  Ira M. Gottlieb, Esq., Program Co-Chair
 McCarter & English LLP / Newark, NJ
10:15 am Break
10:30 am The Passaic River Update: A Case Study of the Complexity of Joint Federal/State Involvement with Multiple Industrial Parties
  Motion to remand
  William H. Hyatt, Jr., Esq.
 Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP / Newark, NJ
11:15 am Litigation Update: Case Reviews
  The Exxon appeal; South Valley; New Mexico; Ewing Township, NJ litigation
  Lanny S. Kurzweil, Esq.
 McCarter & English LLP / Newark, NJ
12:00 pm Lunch (on your own)
1:15 pm Minimizing Natural Resource Damages Liabilities: Defenses and Strategies
  Assessment and effective case planning
  Jeffrey M. Pollock, Esq.
 Fox Rothschild LLP / Princeton, NJ
2:00 pm Technical Modeling of Natural Resource Damages
  Injury determination vs. quantification; strengths and weaknesses of prevailing approaches/models; data/information services
  David E. Merrill, Principal
 Gradient Corporation / Cambridge, MA
2:45 pm Break
3:00 pm Legal/Scientific Modeling of Natural Resource Damages
  Risk assessment; ecological factors
  Valerie Ann Lee, President
 Environment International Ltd. / Seattle, WA
3:45 pm Economic Modeling of Natural Resource Damages
  Market and non-market valuation methods; when to use what method; what to include and problem areas to avoid; the need for collaboration and scientifically robust studies
  Theodore Tomasi, Ph.D., Vice President and Technical Director
 ENTRIX, Inc. / New Castle, DE
  Industry perspective
  Rick Dunford, Ph.D., Owner
 Environmental Economics Services, LLC / Raleigh, NC
5:00 pm Reception for Attendees and Faculty Sponsored by McCarter & English LLP

Friday, December 01, 2006
8:00 am Registration & Continental Breakfast
8:30 am Introduction & Overview
  Ira M. Gottlieb, Esq., Program Co-Chair
 McCarter & English LLP / Newark, NJ
  David B. Schwartzberg, Program Co-Chair
 Restera, LLC / Fanwood, NJ
8:45 am NRD and Daubert
  The use of Daubert to challenge plaintiffs' NRD experts and expert theories
  Eric G. Lasker, Esq.
 Spriggs & Hollingsworth / Washington, DC
9:30 am What Are Other States Doing?
  Analysis of current activities and future plans for NRD initiatives in specific states
  Ken Lederman, Esq.
 Riddell Williams P.S. / Seattle, WA
10:15 am Break
10:30 am Mediating Natural Resource Damages Claims
  Innovative Settlement Strategies: case study on the use of ADR techniques at Hylebos Waterway near Tacoma; economic incentives for PRPs to construct compensatory wetlands and trade credits for excess ecological value created by novel settlement approach
  Loren R. Dunn, Esq.
 Riddell Williams P.S. / Seattle, WA
  William J. Hengemihle, Managing Director
 LECG, LLC / Wayne, PA
  A mediator's view on the best approaches to take
  Honorable William G. Bassler, (Ret.), Neutral
 JAMS / New York, NY
12:00 pm Evaluations & Adjourn

Tuition

Regular tuition for this program is $795 with a group rate of $695 each for two or more registrants from the same firm. For government employees, we offer a special rate of $595. For students and people in their job for less than a year, our rate is $397.50. All rates include admission to all seminar sessions, food and beverages at breaks, and all course materials. Make checks payable to Law Seminars International.

Cancellation & Substitution

You may substitute another person at any time. We will refund tuition, less a $50 cancellation fee, if we receive your cancellation by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, November 24, 2006. After that time, we will credit your tuition toward attendance at another program or the purchase of a homestudy. There is a $25 cancellation fee for Course Materials orders and $50 for Homestudy orders.

Continuing Education Credits

This program qualifies for 9.5 PA CLE credits. Upon request, we will apply for CLE credits in other states and other types of credits.

Location

The conference will be held at the Sheraton Newark Airport Hotel at 128 Frontage Road in Newark, NJ 07114. Call the hotel directly at (973) 690-5500 for reservations at the special negotiated rate of $139 and mention that you are attending a Law Seminars International conference. Rooms are on a first come, first served basis.
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If You Cannot Attend

Our complete Homestudy Course, consisting of a VHS or DVD recording and the written course materials, is available for $805. The written course materials alone are available for $100. We will ship your homestudy order via UPS ground within two weeks after the seminar or the date we receive payment (whichever is later).
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Faculty Bios

Ira M. Gottlieb, Program Co-Chair, is a partner at McCarter & English LLP. He served as an Assistant Regional Counsel for the U.S. EPA, Region III and is the recipient of several awards including the Federal Executive Board gold medal for Excellence in Government and a bronze medal for outstanding public service. In 2005 Mr. Gottlieb was appointed Co-Chair of the Committee on Superfund and NRD Litigation of the ABA Section of Environment, Energy and Resources.

David B. Schwartzberg, Program Co-Chair, is President of Restera, LLC, a consulting company that uses innovative approaches to help industrial clients resolve their NRD liabilities. Previously as Vice President, Health, Environment and Safety for ATOFINA Chemicals, Inc., he conceived and developed the concept of Restoration Banking, or Restoration Credit Pooling, as a way to effectively and economically resolve ATOFINA's NRD liability at the Commencement Bay Superfund Site.

Honorable William G. Bassler (Ret.) is a neutral at JAMS. With more than 40 years of dispute resolution experience, he served for 15 years in U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey; 3 years on the Superior Court of the State of New Jersey; and 23 years in private practice. During his distinguished legal career Judge Bassler has presided over, ruled on, arbitrated and been involved with virtually every type of complex case.

James A. Bruen, a partner in Farella Braun + Martel LLP's Environmental Law Department and Product Law Group, is a widely known author and lecturer in environmental and products liability law. He is named in The Best Lawyers in America, Best of the Best 2006, Chambers USA, Who's Who in America, and The International Who's Who of Environmental Lawyers.

Rick Dunford, Ph.D., is the owner of Environmental Economics Services, LLC, a consulting firm specializing in natural resource damages assessment. He has worked on more than 40 NRD assessments and has specialized in groundwater damages in recent years. He was a co-founder of Triangle Economic Research (TER), now a subsidiary of Blasland Bouck & Lee, Inc.

Loren R. Dunn, a principal at Riddell Williams P.S., is Chair of the Environmental and Natural Resources Group. His projects have involved hazardous waste and large multi-party toxics cleanup sites, water sediment sites and NRD claims. He was named as one of "75 Top Business Lawyers" by Seattle Business Monthly magazine, was ranked as one of "America's Leading Business Lawyers" by Chambers USA, and is a "Super Lawyer."

William J. Hengemihle is Managing Director at LECG, LLC, where he provides arbitration, mediation and other ADR services for environmental cleanup and restoration projects. His assignments have addressed NRD claims at urban rivers and waterways. He worked as a mediator for NRD claims at the Hylebos Waterway portion of the Commencement Bay Nearshore/Tideflats Superfund Site, near Tacoma, WA.

William H. Hyatt, Jr. is a partner at Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP, concentrating in environmental law and related litigation. He has extensive Superfund experience and has frequently acted as common or shared counsel in cost recovery and contribution litigation. He has represented clients at many significant Superfund sites, including four of the top six sites listed on the NPL.

Lanny S. Kurzweil, a partner at McCarter & English LLP, represents oil, petrochemical, financial services and manufacturing companies in environmental matters. He handles cost recovery actions in environmental cases involving landfills, groundwater, soil contamination and underground storage tanks, and counsels clients on natural resource damages issues. He has lectured extensively on New Jersey's Natural Resource Damages Program.

Eric G. Lasker is a partner at Spriggs & Hollingsworth where he specializes in environmental and toxic tort litigation. He has been widely published on the issue of Daubert in environmental and toxics litigation, including a chapter in the forthcoming Drug Abuse Handbook (2d ed. 2006) (Taylor and Francis/CRC Press). He is co-counsel for General Electric in the New Mexico NRD litigation.

Ken Lederman, a principal at Riddell Williams P.S., is a member of the Environmental and Natural Resources Practice Group. His practice emphasizes multi-party hazardous waste cost-recovery and natural resource damage litigation. Previously he was an Assistant Attorney General in the Washington Department of Ecology focusing on toxic waste management. He has been named a Rising Star by Washington Law & Politics magazine.

Valerie Ann Lee, the Founder and President of Environment International Ltd., is both an environmental attorney and engineer. She has supervised scientific teams investigating the basis for liability and cost allocation at Superfund sites. As a trial attorney for the Environmental Enforcement Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, she litigated cases involving natural resource damages, obtaining over $35 million in judgments and settlements.

David E. Merrill is a Principal at Gradient Corporation where he negotiates cost effective solutions to environmental contamination problems. His expertise includes multi-disciplinary risk assessments, multimedia chemical fate and transport modeling, and creative data analysis. He has negotiated risk-based cleanup levels and remedial strategies, interpreted complex site investigation data into effective conceptual site models, and evaluated ecological risks and NRD claims.

Jeffrey M. Pollock, a partner at Fox Rothschild LLP, focuses his practice on environmental law, complex litigation and policyholder representation. He represents and advises clients on environmental liability and compliance obligations under CERCLA, RCRA and ISRA and has significant experience in Superfund and RCRA Corrective Action sites. He is listed in "Best Lawyers in America."

Theodore Tomasi, Ph.D., is a Vice President and Technical Director at ENTRIX, Inc. He is a natural resource economist whose research has been directed to measuring the value of natural resources and environmental change. He is experienced in the development and application of state-of-the-art valuation methods in benefit-cost analysis, natural resource damage assessments, and other settings.