For nearly two decades, Ben has brought environmental cases on behalf of States, municipalities, and other government entities, as well as injured individuals. He has worked on some of the most notable cases in this area of law. Ben represented the state of New Hampshire from 2003-2016 in litigation against major oil companies for statewide contamination of the state’s waters with the chemical and gasoline additive MTBE. He helped obtain settlements of $136 million from approximately a dozen defendants prior to or at the commencement of trial and participated in the three-month trial against ExxonMobil which resulted in a $236 million jury verdict against ExxonMobil. The jury verdict was affirmed on appeal by the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Ben also worked on such notable cases as Connecticut v. American Electric Power Company and Native Village of Kivalina v. ExxonMobil Corporation.
Ben has represented Vermont in litigation against 3M and DuPont for pollution of the state’s land and waters with PFAS that are commonly known as the “forever chemicals.” He also has represented New Hampshire in litigation against Monsanto for pollution of state waters with PCBs and the State of New Jersey in litigation against Sherwin-Williams for toxic pollution caused by the largest paint manufacturing facility in the world.
Ben also represented the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Environmental Defense Fund against the automobile industry in cases that upheld state greenhouse gas laws in California, Vermont, and Rhode Island. As part of the multi-week Vermont trial in which the court upheld Vermont’s state greenhouse gas law, Ben played a significant role in preparing evidence and cross-examination.
