Emily Westridge Black

Environmental / Mass tort matters

• Dow in State of Maine v. 3M et al., a product liability action stemming from alleged contamination of groundwater, surface waters, soils, and wildlife by PFAS. Secured a complete dismissal with prejudice.
• Dow in Trueblood-Lehr v. 3M et al., a wrongful death action stemming from alleged exposure to per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Secured a complete dismissal.
• Dow in numerous Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)-related lawsuits that are consolidated in the aqueous fire-fighting foam (AFFF) multi-district litigation in South Carolina.
• Publicly traded aerospace and defense company in internal investigation related to handling of radioactive and other hazardous materials.
• Publicly traded chemicals company in internal assessment of global use of PFAS and associated risks.
• Leading chemicals company in numerous personal injury and survivorship lawsuits relating to a natural gas explosion in the northeastern United States.

Products liability matters

• MSI Computer Corporation, a leading computer company, in Glasscock v. Activision Blizzard, Inc. et al., a video game addiction/products liability suit. Secured a voluntary dismissal of all claims.
• PolyPipe/Dura-Line, one of the nation’s largest manufacturers of the plastic pipes that are used by utilities and operators in their natural gas distribution networks, in the investigation and disclosure of a manufacturing issue and in related matters, including Southern California Gas Company and San Diego Gas & Electric Company v. Dura-Line Corporation, et. al, pending in the Superior Court for Los Angeles County, California.
• Fortune 500 manufacturing company in a $250 million products liability case brought by a downstream domestic products manufacturer. Obtained favorable settlement of all claims and third-party claims.
• European manufacturer in investigation of alleged safety issues in construction material product lines.
• A global manufacturing company in a federal class action and numerous state mass actions alleging manufacturing and design defects in domestic plumbing products.

Securities / ESG matters

• A publicly traded international energy and chemicals company in assessing and mitigating the litigation risks associated with its prior ESG disclosures, including disclosures on greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets.
• Parkcentral Global, a multi-billion dollar hedge fund, and its executives in a putative class action alleging breach of fiduciary duty, aiding and abetting, and vicarious liability in connection with the fund’s failure. Defeated class certification and obtained voluntary dismissal of remaining claims.
• Supreme Industries in a securities class action. Secured a complete dismissal on an early dispositive motion.
• The CEO of a publicly traded technology company in an SEC enforcement action regarding alleged options backdating. Secured complete dismissal on a motion for summary judgment, which was upheld on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Workplace misconduct, fraud, and anticorruption matters

• Oil and gas company and its CEO in criminal FCPA investigation related to alleged bribe payments in excess of $50 million in Eastern Europe.
• International freight forwarder in federal investigation for alleged anticorruption and antitrust compliance violations.
• Board of a state governmental agency in investigation of whistleblower allegations regarding an alleged pattern of harassment, religious, gender, and age discrimination, and other workplace misconduct by an agency executive. Conducted interviews of employees, executives, and other key stakeholders and reviewed relevant evidence. Prepared a report for the board. Assisted with adopting and implementing workplace policies to prevent misconduct, enhance reporting procedures and further ensure whistleblower/antiretaliation protection.
• The audit committee of a publicly traded national construction and restoration company in the internal investigation and self-reporting of securities violations and fraud.
• Publicly traded transportation company in an internal investigation of alleged FCPA violations in connection with the construction of cross-border facilities.

General commercial litigation matters

• A leading health insurer as plaintiff in a significant breach of contract dispute against its pharmacy benefit manager.
• A leading chemical company in an international arbitration related to the construction of a high-pressure polyethylene plant in the Middle East.
• Trinity Industries in a breach of warranty litigation related to Autorack railcars, in which plaintiffs sought hundreds of millions of dollars.

Cybersecurity matters

• SSR Mining in the investigation, remediation, and disclosure of a ransomware incident impacting its foreign operations.
• Taro Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. in an ongoing putative class action pending in the Southern District of New York related to a ransomware incident.
• Spec’s Family Partners in the investigation and disclosure of cyber-attack that implicated payment card information and personal identifying information. Secured a multi-million dollar judgment for Spec’s from its card processor, First Data Merchant Services, on motion for summary judgment, which was affirmed by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Also secured a multi-million dollar judgment from Spec’s insurer, The Hanover Insurance Co., to recover costs and expenses associated with investigating and remediating the incident.U.S. broker-dealer in responding to and remediating a criminal ransomware attack on its network that may have impacted data regarding the firm’s securities transactions, personally identifiable information regarding its international employee base, and other third-party information. Advised the client regarding U.S. and U.K. regulatory disclosures and state-law notices to employees and relevant attorneys general.
• BNSF Railway in investigation and remediation of a data security incident and in criminal referral and civil prosecution of entities responsible for the security breach.
• Private equity-backed specialty retailer in the investigation and remediation of data security incidents impacting its payment card network and in related disputes with the card brands.
• CoreLogic in the investigation, remediation, and disclosure of a data security incident.
• Publicly-traded oilfield services technology company in investigation of criminal spear-phishing attack used to perpetrate significant wire fraud.
• Information technology solutions company in investigation, remediation, and disclosure of a data security breach and in dispute with the responsible party.

Chemicals sector

• Represented a chemical company in a private action alleging anticompetitive practices in the regulated refrigerant industry, asserting multiple claims under federal antitrust laws as well as claims for breach of contract, tort, and unfair business practices under North Carolina law, securing dismissal of all claims with prejudice.