Defeating Giants: Clean Water and DuPont’s Downfall

Robert Bilott is one of the world’s finest environmental lawyers. With a combination of innovative litigation, scientific understanding, and extraordinary perseverance, he has achieved one of the most significant victories for environmental law and corporate accountability of this century. In a legal battle lasting 19 years, he represented 70,000 citizens whose drinking water had been contaminated with Perfluorooctanic acid (PFOA) by the chemical giant DuPont. This talk is part of the Hayward Social and Environmental Speaker Series, co-hosted by the Center for the Blue Economy. 

Expanding upon the concept of class-action litigation, he set up a 7-year toxicological study of the 70,000 victims, which contributed significantly to the scientific understanding of the global health risks associated with Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS). This class of substances, which do not break down in the environment or the human body, are ubiquitous in our societies today. At a time when environmental regulation is under serious threat of being watered down in the United States and elsewhere, Bilott successfully won compensation for his clients and continues to call for better regulation of toxic substances. Join Robert Bilott as he explores the various scientific, regulatory , and legal challenges and obstacles to effectively and efficiently addressing perfluorochemicals in drinking water worldwide.

About the Speaker

A seasoned litigator with more than 27 years of experience, Rob represents a diverse range of clients on a wide variety of matters involving federal, state and local environmental laws. Rob is a Partner and cornerstone of Taft’s Environmental, Litigation and Product Liability and Personal Injury teams. With an aptitude for handling complex and nuanced matters, Rob’s work has kept him at the forefront of environmental and regulatory litigation, mass tort, and compliance issues. He has handled matters involving highly complex and emerging scientific issues with some of the nation’s leading medical, technical, scientific and regulatory experts and advisors.

Rob has proudly represented Taft and his community as a board member of Less Cancer, as a member of the Cincinnati Academy of Leadership for Lawyers (CALL) Class V and as a former chair of the Cincinnati Bar Association’s Environmental Law Committee. He received his undergraduate degree from New College and earned his J.D., cum laude, from the Ohio State University College of Law, where he served as managing editor of the Law Journal.

Rob is a 2017 Right Livelihood Award Laureate, Fellow in the Right Livelihood College and an Honorary Professor at the National University of Cordoba in Argentina.

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Parking

Parking is available in any Middlebury Institute campus lot after 5 p.m., or on the street (time limits on surrounding streets end at 6 p.m.)

Questions

Contact Rachel Christopherson at the Center for the Blue Economy at cbe@miis.edu or (831) 647-6615 ext. 1.