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AttorneysAttorneys from law firms in New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware represent the men, women and children who suffered acute and chronic medical problems—and frightening birth defects—as a result of AES Corporation's illegal dumping of toxic coal ash waste on a Dominican Republic beach. Among the plaintiffs in this complaint who suffered horrible birth defects are three children who survived and two who died shortly after birth. In one case a child with severe cranial abnormalities had to be aborted mid-term. For more than a year before filing the Complaint, the attorneys accompanied by medical, environmental and other experts, made numerous visits to Samana, Arroyo Barril and Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. Levy, Philips & Konigsberg, LLP, a New York City-based law firm with a national reputation for representing plaintiffs in toxic tort cases, maintains offices in Manhattan and Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Three of Levy Phillips & Konigsberg LLP attorneys are in the team prosecuting the AES case, including name partner Stephen J. Phillips, partner Diane Paolicelli and Philip Monier III, of counsel. In Philadelphia, two attorneys from the Law Firm of Robert T. Vance Jr. are part of the legal team. Name partner Robert. T. Vance Jr., and Giovanni O. Campbell are bilingual and have traveled many times to the Dominican Republic. Three attorneys from the Wilmington, Delaware law firm Bifferato, LLC, are on the legal team, including name partner Ian Connor Bifferato, Kevin Collins and David W. deBruin. Attorneys (Alphabetical)
Steven J. PhillipsSteven J. Phillips is a senior name partner and founding member of Levy Phillips & Konigsberg LLP, with offices in New York City and New Jersey. Steve heads the firm's toxic torts and appellate practice and enjoys a nationwide reputation as a plaintiffs' lawyer representing victims of occupational and environmental hazards. His pioneering work in the prosecution of groundwater contamination, nuclear radiation, and asbestos litigation has yielded precedent-setting successes. He's served as lead trial and appellate counsel in numerous mass tort litigations including: asbestos exposure at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, other New York shipyards, and among construction workers; groundwater contamination in Jackson Township, New Jersey; birth defect and cancer litigation on behalf of semiconductor workers and their families; and veterans exposed to nuclear radiation. He has won numerous individual verdicts in the millions and tens of millions of dollars. » More about Steven J. Phillips Diane PaolicelliDiane Paolicelli has been a partner at Levy Phillips & Konigsberg, LLP since 1988. An accomplished trial lawyer, she specializes in toxic torts, medical malpractice, civil rights, employment law, complex products liability, and personal injury cases. Among the successful and important mass tort litigations Diane has handled are the DES and Dalkon Shield litigations. DES cases concerned a defective pregnancy drug, while the Dalkon Shield was a defective birth control device. Both products caused innumerable women to suffer infertility and other serious reproductive diseases. Diane heads Levy Phillips & Konigsberg's medical malpractice and catastrophic injury practice with a concentration on cases of cerebral palsy, benzene-induced leukemia and birth defects. She also plays a lead role in managing the firm's pharmaceutical consumer fraud litigation. Philip Monier, IIIPhilip Monier, III is of counsel at Levy Phillips & Konigsberg, LLP where he has spent the majority of his career aggressively representing children and adults catastrophically injured as a result of exposure to toxic chemicals and dangerously defective products in their homes and workplaces. He has represented individuals who have been severely injured or killed as a result of exposure to heavy metals and substances such as lead, arsenic, organic solvents, chromium and cadmium. Philip has been involved in litigation across and beyond the United States, working closely with leading experts in the fields of epidemiology, medicine, psychology, environmental science, geology and industrial hygiene to hold liable those responsible for his clients' damages. He also has handled many state and federal court appeals, successfully protecting the rights of his clients and helping to shape developing toxic torts law. In addition to his trial and appellate court work he is active with civil rights and environmental groups. » Read more about Philip Monier, III Robert T. Vance Jr.Robert T Vance Jr., who also speaks fluent Spanish, French and Portuguese, was graduated from Howard University, in Washington D.C., with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering in 1979 and Yale Law School in 1982. After graduation from Yale, Robert worked in the Litigation Department of Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP in Philadelphia. In 1985, he co-founded the Brown & Vance law firm, with offices in Philadelphia and Washington D.C., and began the Law Offices of Robert T Vance Jr. in 1996. His practice is focused primarily on class actions, employment discrimination, and civil and human rights litigation, domestically and internationally. He has served as lead or co-lead counsel in multiple plaintiff and class actions that have resulted in multi-million-dollar settlements against some of the nation's leading corporations. Robert has briefed and argued many cases before the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Among his current and past professional affiliations are the Philadelphia Bar Association, the Barristers Association of Philadelphia, and the Hispanic Bar Association. He also has served in a number of governmental capacities, including chairman of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. » Read more about Robert T. Vance Jr. at http://vancelf.com/Robert_T.html. Giovanni O. CampbellGiovanni O. Campbell, who also is bilingual and proficient in written and spoken Spanish, is of counsel to the Law Offices of Robert T. Vance, Jr. He has more than 15 years of experience in trial and appellate practice in federal and state courts. He has successfully represented civil clients in workers compensation, personal injury and general civil litigation. As a criminal defense attorney he has successfully secured clients' acquittals in a broad range of cases, from homicides and federal offenses to misdemeanors to summary offenses. Giovanni is admitted to practice in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He received a Bachelor's Degree from S.U.N.Y.- Stony Brook, New York, and his J.D. from Temple University School of Law. His professional affiliations include the Federal Bar Association - Criminal Defense Committee, the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (PACDL), and the Philadelphia Bar Association, among others. » Read more about Giovanni O. Campbell at http://vancelf.com/Giovanni_O.html. Ian Connor BifferatoIan Connor Bifferato, Managing Director of Bifferato, LLC, with offices in Wilmington and Lewes, Delaware, practices in the areas of Complex Toxic Tort Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Commercial Bankruptcy, Business Reorganization, and Creditors' Rights. In each area he has accumulated significant experience and success. He is admitted to practice in the State of Delaware, the United States District Court of Delaware, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Recipient of the Delaware State Bar Association's New Lawyers Distinguished Service Award in 2004, and the Association's 2006 recipient of the William Poole Memorial Award for Board Member of the Community Legal Aid Society, he also was named a "Delaware Super Lawyer" by Philadelphia Magazine in 2006, 2007, and 2008. Connor presented Alternate Dispute Resolution at the American Bankruptcy Institute's 27th Annual Spring Meeting in 2009. In Alternative Dispute Resolution Connor has had a greater than 90 percent success rate. He has mediated well over 100 commercial disputes, including appeals from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, secured lender disputes, general corporate litigation, preference litigation and creditors' rights issues. Connor also frequently serves as an arbitrator for single and triple panel, binding and non-binding arbitrations. He received his B.A. from the University of Delaware in 1990 and his J.D. from the Widener University School of Law in 1994. He also attended the University of Virginia's Intensive Trial Advocacy Institute and the Delaware Superior Court Mediation Program. » Read more about Ian Connor Bifferato Kevin CollinsKevin Collins, who joined Bifferato, LLC in May 2008, practices in the areas of Commercial Bankruptcy and Commercial and Corporate Litigation. Kevin received his Bachelor's Degree from the University of Virginia and was graduated cum laude from Widener University School of Law where he was an Articles Editor for the Delaware Journal of Corporate Law, and a judicial extern for the Hon. Kent A. Jordan, United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Kevin is an active member of the Delaware Bankruptcy American Inn of Court and the Rodney Inn of Court. He also serves, pro bono, as an attorney guardian ad litem for the Delaware Office of the Child Advocate. David W. deBruinDavid deBruin is a Director in the commercial and corporate litigation department with the Bifferato LLC law firm located in Wilmington, Delaware. David is admitted to practice in Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He has significant experience in effectively managing complex tort and commercial litigation. Mr. deBruin has represented clients at trial in state and federal courts in Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Since joining Bifferato in 2005, David's practice has been primarily dedicated to representing victims of mesothelioma and their families. Recognized by his peers and senior members of the legal community, David was named a "Rising Star" by Super Lawyers magazine. David is a contributing member of the Editorial Board of IN RE: The Journal of the Delaware State Bar Association. He is also an active member of the Richard S. Rodney Inn of Court and the Delaware Trial Lawyers Association. Mr. deBruin is a Fellow in the Trial Lawyer Honorary Society - Litigation Counsel of America. David holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Maryland and a juris Doctor from Widener University School of Law. |