Judge Fernando M. Olguin issued the preliminary approval for the PCB class settlement in federal court in the Central District of California. The Court has certified the Class and appointed Baron & Budd attorneys Scott Summy, John Fiske, and Carla Pickrel as Lead Class Counsel.

Since March 2015, Baron & Budd’s attorneys have filed over a dozen lawsuits on behalf of governmental entities seeking cost recovery for stormwater and environmental contamination that the Plaintiffs allege to have been caused by chemicals known as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which Monsanto manufactured between the 1930s and 1970s. The cases were collectively litigated for over 5 years and were mediated and resolved through JAMS Mediator Judge (Ret.) Jay Gandhi.

“We are pleased with the Court’s decision to move forward with the preliminary approval in this nationwide case,” said Baron & Budd Shareholder Scott Summy. “This puts us one step closer to providing relief to the public entities whose stormwater systems and ecosystems have been so harmfully affected by PCBs.”

The proposed class action will provide all class members with a monetary benefit and will additionally provide funds for those governmental entities that have incurred or will incur significant expenses to protect and remediate America’s waterways, sediment, and stormwater systems.

The settling named class plaintiffs leading the nationwide resolution include the City of Spokane, City of Tacoma, the City of Portland, the Port of Portland, the City of Berkeley, the City of Oakland, the City of San Jose, County of Los Angeles, City of Long Beach, City of San Diego, City of Chula Vista, City of Baltimore, and Baltimore County.

About Baron & Budd, P.C.

Baron & Budd, P.C. is among the largest and most accomplished plaintiffs’ law firms in the country. With more than 40 years of experience, Baron & Budd has the expertise and resources to handle complex litigation throughout the United States. As a law firm that takes pride in remaining at the forefront of litigation, Baron & Budd has spearheaded many significant cases for hundreds of entities and thousands of individuals. Since the firm was founded in 1977, Baron & Budd has achieved substantial national acclaim for its work on cutting-edge litigation, trying hundreds of cases to verdict and settling tens of thousands of cases in areas of litigation as diverse and significant as dangerous and highly addictive pharmaceuticals, defective medical devices, asbestos and mesothelioma, California wildfires and environmental contamination, fraudulent banking practices, e-cigarettes, motor vehicles, federal whistleblower cases, and other consumer fraud issues.