USDC, Northern District of California
CPM represented a property developer in litigation relating to a decades-long dispute over DNAPL (Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid) contamination caused by solvents from a lock factory owned by the Schlage Lock Company, before it was acquired by Ingersoll-Rand. The Visitacion Valley property, which was the subject of the litigation, is some of the most valuable and underdeveloped property in the Bay Area but the contamination and litigation prevented any serious effort to develop this property. CPM’s aggressive litigation strategy resulted in a successful resolution of the litigation, creating an opportunity to develop Visitacion Valley into a commercial center in the Bay Area. The California Court of Appeal described CPM as an “experienced litigation firm that obtained a ‘stupendous’ result for the [client].”
