ABSTRACT
A corporate risk reduction strategy will be ineffective unless it has a mechanism to reduce the threat of environmental litigation. For any small- to midsized business, environmental litigation can drain a business’s resources. Even large businesses that have gone the distance and tried environmental cases to completion sometimes refer to them as bet-the-company cases. Some environmental cases involve as many as 1000 parties and have created “monstrous practical problems for the federal courts …” (Mininberg and Goodbody, 1994). A typical Superfund action may last five years or more from the time of filing until disposition in the district court. Lengthy appeals and even lengthier contribution actions against other potentially responsible parties (PRPs) often follow.
