HYDROFRACKING IN THE MARCELLUS SHALE: THE LIABILITY AND INSURANCE COVERAGE IMPLICATIONS

PERRIN’S LEGAL WEBINAR SERIES: HYDROFRACKING IN THE MARCELLUS SHALE: THE LIABILITY AND INSURANCE COVERAGE IMPLICATIONS

Wednesday, April 20^th, 2011
2:00 – 3:30 PM ET

Speakers:

Emily A. Collins, Assistant Clinical Professor of Law, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
Michael Conley, Esq., Offit Kurman, Philadelphia, PA
Michael J. Naughton, Esq., Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP, NJ
Carl J. Pernicone, Esq., Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP, New York, NY
Radisav D. Vidic, Ph.D., P.E., William Kepler Whiteford Professor of Environmental Engineering and Chairman of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburg, PA

Agenda Topics to be covered:

Overview & Background of Hydrofracking & the Marcellus Shale 
Categories of Plaintiffs 
Theories of Liability: Statutory
Theories of Liability
Defendants 
Insurance Coverage Issues

Registration

Cost: $129, unlimited listeners. Includes 1 CLE for 1 listener (Additional CLE credits $25 each).

CLE Credit: 1.5-2.0 CLE credits, depending on state requirements.

Applications are being made to all CLE states as requested by attendees.

Speaker Bios:

Emily A. Collins, Assistant Clinical Professor of Law, University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA

Emily Collins joined the Pitt Law Faculty in 2008 as a Clinical Assistant Professor and Supervising Attorney of the Environmental Law Clinic.   Professor Collins comes to Pitt Law from the Office of Public Interest Counsel of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, where she served as a state-employed public interest environmental attorney in the areas of water quality, water rights, air quality, solid waste disposal, low-level radioactive waste disposal, remediation, and wastewater rates.

Drawing on her public interest practice and education at the Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic and the Gallatin School of New York University, Professor Collins has designed an interdisciplinary clinic that teaches students to work effectively in cross-disciplinary teams that provide legal and technical assistance to groups and individuals with environmental and community health concerns in Western Pennsylvania.

Michael Conley, Esq., Offit Kurman
Philadelphia, PA

Mr. Conley is the Chair of the Firm’s new Insurance Recovery Group in its Philadelphia office and a Principal in the Labor & Employment and Litigation Department.

Mr. Conley’s broad legal experience includes insurance coverage litigation, labor and employment law and general litigation. He represents policyholders with claims against insurance companies. His insurance coverage law experience includes handling coverage actions on behalf of insureds relating to bad faith claims, defense obligations, law and ordinance exclusions, breach of health insurance contract, crime coverage, employment liability coverage and coverage for asbestos-related claims and environmental liability.

Mr. Conley’s commercial litigation experience includes representing clients in cases involving breach of contract, abuse of process, trademark infringement, unfair trade practices and collections. For companies facing labor and employment law claims, Mr. Conley has handled issues involving collective bargaining throughout the US with various unions; over 100 labor arbitrations; appearances before the NLRB; and successful defense of union certification elections.

Mr. Conley regularly counsels companies on a variety of business matters and his experience includes contract drafting and negotiations on behalf of US-based clients for work in US, Europe, Middle East, South America and India; business acquisitions; ICC Arbitrations in Europe; environmental law issues; business formation; and MSHA and OSHA matters.

Michael J. Naughton, Esq., Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP
New Jersey

Michael J. Naughton is a Partner in the New Jersey office and the chair of the firm’s Environmental & Energy Regulatory & Compliance Group. He has represented clients in hundreds of environmental regulatory and permitting matters involving federal and state environmental laws and regulations throughout the United States.

Michael has been representing corporations and individual clients in real estate transactions, environmental litigation and regulatory compliance matters for more than 27 years. He has litigated numerous environmental cases involving various claims, including natural resource damage claims throughout the United States. Michael maintains a national CERCLA practice and routinely appears before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, New Jersey Office of Administrative Law and the New York Department of Environmental Conservation.

In addition, Michael also advises clients in brownfield cleanups and redevelopment of contaminated properties. This part of his legal practice focuses on matters of due diligence and contractual allocation of environmental risks in transactions, disclosure laws and obligations concerning environmental conditions on real property, securing environmental insurance products to protect the firm’s clients against cleanup cost overruns and pollution legal liability, permit requirements under state and federal regulatory laws.

He also has experience in the handling of energy and infrastructure projects, climate change and sustainability matters. Michael has the ability to represent clients engaged in or considering business ventures in emerging green energy fields such as solar, wind, geothermal, cogeneration, biofuels and biomass. He also has experience in many aspects of energy management. He interfaces with consultants involved in energy efficiency analysis, energy master planning, and procurement of energy and alternative energy sources. Also, as a sub-set of the firm’s environmental permitting services, he assists consultants and engineers in the performance evaluations of a facility’s greenhouse gas (GHG) profile.

Michael has been appointed as a Special Environmental Mediator for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. He has also served as a Director of the Environmental Law Section for the New Jersey State Bar. Michael is a frequent lecturer and has written extensively on environmental law and regulatory issues.

Carl J. Pernicone, Esq., Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP
New York, NY

Carl J. Pernicone is a Partner in the New York office and is a co-founder and Co-Chair of the firm’s Insurance Practice Team.  Carl focuses his practice in the area of insurance and reinsurance coverage issues arising in complex, high exposure matters.

Much of Carl’s work concentrates on coverage disputes arising from so-called “long-tail injury” claims―such as those involving asbestos, lead, silica, workplace chemical exposure, and environmental liability.  More recently, he has become involved in addressing the coverage implications in the emerging area of Climate Change liability.

For more than two decades, Carl has represented insurers across the country as counsel of record in complex, high exposure suits in state and federal courts. In addition, he has extensive experience in analyzing coverage; issuing coverage opinions; preparing reservation of rights and disclaimer letters; drafting policy wording; and drafting insurance coverage settlement agreements policy “buyback” agreements. Carl also regularly lectures and writes on topical coverage decisions and emerging coverage issues. In addition, he manages the firm’s National Attorney Training program and chairs its Associate Professional Training and Development Committee.

Carl has been named to SuperLawyers’ Magazine’s 2009 and 2010 lists of the top Insurance Practices attorneys in the Metro New York area.

Radisav D. Vidic, Ph.D., P.E., William Kepler Whiteford Professor of Environmental Engineering and Chairman of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburg, PA

Dr. Vidic holds a BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Belgrade (1987) and received his graduate education in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Illinois (M.S., 1989) and University of Cincinnati (Ph.D., 1992). His research efforts focus on advancing the applications of surface science by providing fundamental understanding of molecular-level interactions at interfaces, development of novel physical/chemical water treatment technologies, water management for Marcellus shale development, and reuse of impaired waters for cooling systems in coal-fired power plants. Dr. Vidic published over 150 journal papers and conference proceedings on these topics. He received 2000 Professional Research Award from the Pennsylvania Water Environment Federation for his research accomplishments and dedication to the profession, was a Fulbright Scholar in 2003/04 and a was elected by the Pittsburgh section of American Society of Civil Engineers as 2008 Professor of the Year. In February 2011, he was selected by the Pittsburgh Post Gazette as one of the top 10 people shaping the Marcellus shale debate in Pennsylvania.