John C. Hueston

In April 2014, Hueston won an unprecedented environmental victory that resulted in a record $5.15 billion settlement after trial.

He served as the litigation trustee responsible for prosecution of consolidated national litigation against Anadarko Petroleum Co. and Kerr-McGee Corp for the fraudulent transfer of liabilities. Tronox Inc. v. Anadarko Petroleum Corp., 09-1198 (U.S. Bankruptcy Court, S.D. N.Y., filed May 2009).

The litigation arose from the failure of Anadarko's subsidiary, Kerr-McGee, to clean up hundreds of polluted sites across the country.

Added to that, Hueston said, was Kerr-McGee's attempt to avoid resulting environmental liabilities by attaching them to "an undercapitalized chemical company and spinning it off."

This included abandoned uranium mines blowing toxic dust into Navajo communities.

"I have done pro bono work for years with the Navajos to remediate the uranium waste," Hueston said.

The matter was highly complex, Hueston said, adding, "We worked in cooperation with the Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorneys office in New York, over a dozen states, and the Navajo Nation to coordinate this litigation."

Last year, a bankruptcy judge found after trial that the trust had proven that Kerr-McGee had acted with actual fraudulent intent to hinder and delay its creditors.

The company did that by transferring its liabilities into a spin-off company called Tronox Inc., Hueston said.

"Tronox predictably sank under the weight of its liabilities and filed for bankruptcy," he said.

The environmental and torts creditors then had a choice: stand in line in bankruptcy court to receive pennies on the dollar, or accept a stake in litigation against Kerr-McGee, Hueston said.

This offered the possibility of greater recovery, but also a substantial risk of failure. They decided to take the gamble.

"We felt that we were pursuing justice and that the outcome far exceeded the expectations of stakeholders, who now know they can end the contamination issues afflicting their respect communities," Hueston said.

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