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Practices

When it comes to personal injury, it’s not just the financial risk that is high: defendants sometimes want more than money. Liskow excels at dealing with these incidents, effectively minimizing exposure, and working out a resolution in the best interest of our clients.

Overview

When an accident occurs, we respond immediately to ensure that you are not required to halt your operations; if you are at fault, we strive to minimize the penalty. Whenever possible, we work to ensure there are no criminal implications on the regulatory side. We know that the incident itself – and the resulting litigation – will involve a lot of back-and-forth with various agencies, and we come prepared. Because of our 80-plus years of experience in oil and gas, we are adept at helping clients with their immediate regulatory response to OSHA, the State Police, the Chemical Safety Board, the Department of Environmental Quality, as well as the pipeline safety agencies.

Liskow represents major energy companies and other multinational corporations in cases involving catastrophic incidents such as environmental exposure and releases from refineries, oil spills, and accidents resulting in catastrophic physical injuries. We figure out the story and tap into the resources – both internal and external – to build the strongest possible case for state and federal court.

Scaling up at a moment’s notice

A refinery incident can occur at any time. More than once, we’ve had to respond immediately, piecing together information like a detective to determine what’s happened – while keeping in mind that litigation may follow, tomorrow or in six months. At the same time, we recognize it’s a traumatic event for you. We are both sensitive to your time of crisis while cognizant of the fact that our job is to terminate the problem and protect your company. We dig into the facts: who were the actual actors? What contracts and indemnities governed the operations at this refinery? What are the applicable insurance provisions? As skilled investigators, we are dedicated to finding the facts that may be lurking deep below the surface.

To do so, we ring the bell for other Liskow partners to help with the massive undertaking. And they do, every time, because Liskow’s core values are strong when it comes to helping others in urgent matters. While the best of our energy and casualty lawyers work on the refinery case, we can also turn to partners who possess deep knowledge of other niches: insurance, regulatory, and even white-collar criminal defense. Liskow’s culture means that you have ready access to the sophisticated knowledge of the entire firm.

Our litigation results instill trust in our clients

In the last few years, we have succeeded in achieving zero verdicts in 3 out of 4 mass tort class actions. That is because we are strategic from the outset, taking into consideration what contractual, regulatory, engineering, and operational issues might come up and affect our planning. We set the case up at the beginning to minimize our client’s risk.

A large part of how we do what we do is the technical experience we bring to the table. Understanding the regulations ad requirements for your business is part of our job. There is no learning curve: once an incident has occurred, we already know what the company was expected to do, and how agencies are likely to react. We also help translate the complex, technical details of each case to a jury or a judge, using the appropriate partner with specific subpractice experience, so that the factfinders can rule on the case we present.

We are known for these strengths

  • When insurance claim issues are involved, we investigate and ensure that the claims fall within coverage, and then work with insurers to ensure that they provide that coverage
  • From a regulatory angle, we often help clients cooperate with OSHA, the State Police, the Chemical Safety Board, the Department of Environmental Quality, as well as the pipeline safety agencies
  • In personal injury cases, we also take into account contractual, regulatory, engineering, and operational issues at play
Our Team

INSIGHTS