Expert legal services
ZMassociates provides expert legal services to help you try to settle your case before it goes to trial.
In most cases, we do just that – keep you out of a long and arduous court battle.
CEO Thomas Miller has over 15 years of experience serving as an expert witness on environmental legal cases. Mr. Miller provides support in environmental justice, wrongful death, and hazardous waste cases. The ZMassociates team provides expert legal services support in the form of background research, technical data gathering and analysis, and report writing. With the backing and research of his expert staff, Mr. Miller works to keep your legal battle as short and sweet as possible.
Examples of Expert Legal Services Provided
Martha Custer, et al., vs. Cerro Flow Products, Inc., 2017 – 2018
Mr. Miller was retained as an expert witness, produced a detailed Expert Report, and was deposed by defendants. The case is scheduled for trial in February 2018, where Mr. Miller will be an expert witness. Mr. Miller and ZMassociates provided air dispersion modeling demonstrating the air emission dispersion pattern from historic process air emissions from Cerro Copper secondary copper smelter operations, over a 50-year time span. Mr. Miller used the U.S. EPA AERMOD air dispersion model to show that Cerro Copper process emissions created an unacceptable dioxin and furan exposure for at least 19 plaintiffs living down-wind of the Cerro operations.
Tom Johansen, et al. vs. Noranda Mining, Inc., et al, in the District Court of the Sixth Judicial District of the State of Idaho, In and for the County of Bannock, Case No. CV-10-2173-PI., 2012-2013
Mr. Miller was retained as an expert witness, produced a detailed Expert Report. and was deposed by defendant’s attorneys and experts. The case was settled out of court, in part due to Mr. Miller’s expert report and analysis results forcing the mining companies to settle the case rather than go to trial. Mr. Miller and ZMassociates provided expert forensic chemical research, analysis, dispersion modeling and human health risk analysis supporting plaintiff exposure and medical injury claims of injury due to exposures of toxic metals emitted, transported, and leached from the Blackbird Cobalt mine operations, in Salmon, Idaho. Mr. Miller’s work was backed with good science, good data, and utilization of state of the art forensic analysis and contaminant modeling protocols.
Rosanne Borsch, et al. vs. Chevron Corporation, et al./ Lead Case No. YC 056077 and Julie Murray, et al. v. Chevron Corporation, et al. Case No. YC 056221, Los Angeles County Superior Court., July 2009
Mr. Miller was retained as an expert witness, produced a detailed Expert Report, and was deposed by defendant’s legal team. The case was settled out of court, due to Mr. Miller’s in-depth technical report showing that Greka Energy was not culpable for the alleged plaintiff exposures. In fact, Mr. Miller demonstrated that plaintiff exposures to workplace toxins were more likely to have caused the fatal illness that the plaintiffs experienced.
Mr. Miller and ZMassociates provided in-depth research on plaintiff claims, potential chemical exposures, routes of exposure, risk analysis, modeling, and a summary expert opinion report. Due the extensive work by ZMassociates in concert with great legal representation, the case was settled before going to trial.
Orchard View Farms, Inc. vs. Martin Marietta Aluminum, Inc., No. 73-3080 (9th Cir. June 23, 1975)
Mr. Miller was retained as an expert witness. Mr. Miller prepared a detailed Expert Report and was deposed by defendant’s legal team. The case was temporarily referred to mediation by the court.
Mr. Miller provided background research and technical data for legal arguments during the lengthy jury trial. This work included compiling more than 10 years of complex ambient air monitoring data, plant air discharge data, and meteorological data, and literature search, statistical analysis, modeling support, and strategy and opinion papers.