Shell Oil Company v. Barclay Hollander Corp. et al.

Dollar Amount: $133.27 million

Case Name: Shell Oil Company v. Barclay Hollander Corp. et al.

Type of Case: Equitable allocation of cleanup and abatement

Court: Los Angeles County

Judge(s): Judge David S. Cunningham

Plaintiff Lawyers: Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, Deanne L. Miller, David L. Schrader, Jesse S. Krompier, Wogai Mohmand

Defense Lawyers: Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP, Steven E. Meyer, R. Gaylord Smith

The team at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, led by Los Angeles partners Deanne L. Miller and David L. Schrader, were able to obtain a unanimous $133.27 million jury verdict in favor of Shell USA Inc. against Barclay Hollander Corporation.

In May 2014, Shell USA Inc. filed a lawsuit seeking equitable indemnity over costs incurred during the cleanup of petroleum contamination on the property of a Carson, California neighborhood, where the company previously owned and operated oil storage reservoirs.

David L. Schrader

"This case had been pending for many years. We were eager to finally present the case to a jury," Miller said. "At trial, we were able to present evidence that Shell has been doing the right thing for the community to remediate the contamination and that the developer should be required to pay its fair share."

Shell successfully sued Barclay for equitable allocation of the costs of cleaning the area.

"One of the biggest challenges at trial was overcoming biases against large companies," Schrader said. "This was especially formidable in this case because the court gave an instruction that the jury could consider the relative assets of the parties in reaching their verdict."

Jesse S. Krompier

Per the special verdict form filed in Nov. 2022, the total cleanup costs incurred by Shell were listed at $229,990,708. The jury unanimously decided to evenly split this cost between the plaintiff and defendant. The form listed the verdict in favor of Shell against Barclay for costs incurred in the cleanup as $114,995,354, with future costs listed as $36,549,987.

"Oftentimes in environmental matters, the parties named by our regulatory agencies as having responsibility for the contamination will work together to plan and implement a cleanup for the community and environment," Miller explained. "Here, the developer refused to do that and forced our client to seek contribution in court. One of the key implications for companies like Shell that step up and do the work is that pursuing recovery against recalcitrant parties is a viable option."

--Devon Belcher