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Robert Bilott

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Robert Bilott
Born (1965-08-02) August 2, 1965 (age 59)
Ohio, U.S.
Other namesRob Bilott, Robert A. Bilott
Alma materNew College of Florida, Ohio State University School of Law
OccupationEnvironmental lawyer
Known forClass action lawsuit against DuPont on behalf of plaintiffs from Parkersburg, West Virginia
SpouseSarah Barlage
Children3

Robert Bilott (born August 2, 1965) is an American environmental attorney from Cincinnati, Ohio. Bilott is known for the lawsuits against DuPont on behalf of plaintiffs from West Virginia. Bilott has spent more than twenty years litigating hazardous dumping of the chemicals Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS).

Early life

Bilott was born on August 2, 1965.[1] Bilott's grandmother was Alma Holland White, who lived in Vienna, West Virginia.[2]

Bilott's father served in the United States Air Force, and Bilott spent his childhood on several air force bases. He attended eight schools before graduating from Fairborn High School in Fairborn, Ohio.[2]

Education

In 1987, Bilott earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science/urban studies from New College of Florida.[2] In 1990, Bilott earned a J.D. degree from Ohio State University College of Law.[1][3]

Career

In 1990, Bilott was admitted to the Bar in Ohio.[3] Bilott practices law at Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP in Cincinnati, Ohio. [4] In 1998, Bilott became a partner at the firm.[1]

Bilott initially represented a farmer with dying cattle from Parkersburg, West Virginia.[1] In August 2001, Bilott filed a class action lawsuit against DuPont.[1] In 2017, Bilott won a $671 million settlement from DuPont on behalf of more than 3,500 plaintiffs in West Virginia.[5]

In 2016, he joined the board of the Next Generation Choices Foundation (a.k.a. Less Cancer) "to support its mission in championing education and policy that will help prevent cancer."[6]

In 2019, Bilott wrote a memoir detailing the case, Exposure (Atria, 2019) [7] , and his story was the basis for Dark Waters, a 2019 film starring Mark Ruffalo as Bilott. In 2018, Bilott filed a class action that “seeks relief on behalf of a nationwide class of everyone in the United States” against 3M, DuPont, and Chemours.[8] His litigation against DuPont and 3M is ongoing as of May 2019.[9]

Author

Robert Bilott is the author of the acclaimed memoir Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer’s Twenty-Year Battle Against DuPont, published in 2019 by Atria Books.[10]

Awards and recognitions

  • 2005 Trial Lawyer of the Year. Presented by The Trial Lawyers For Public Justice Foundation.[3]
  • 2006 Super Lawyer Rising Star. Selected by Cincinnati Magazine.[3]
  • 2008 100 Top Trial Lawyers from Ohio. Named by American Trial Lawyers Association.[3]
  • 2017 Right Livelyhood Award. Presented by The Right Livelyhood Foundation (December 1, 2017)[1][11]
  • 2019 Lawyer of the Year in Litigation - Environmental. Named by Best Lawyer.[12]

Personal life

In 1996, Bilott married Sarah Barlage. They have three children.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Robert Bilott". The Right Livelihood Award. Retrieved 2019-12-07.
  2. ^ a b c d Rich, Nathaniel (6 April 2016). "The Lawyer Who Became DuPont's Worst Nightmare". New York Times. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Robert Bilott". thenationaltriallawyers.org. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  4. ^ https://www.taftlaw.com/people/robert-a-bilott
  5. ^ De Le Garza, Alejandro (November 25, 2019). "Dark Waters Tells the True Story of the Lawyer Who Took DuPont to Court and Won. But Rob Bilott's Fight Is Far From Over". Time. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  6. ^ "Bilott Joins Less Cancer Board". TaftLaw.com. Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  7. ^ Schuster, Simon & (6 April 2016). "Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer's Twenty-Year Battle against DuPont". Simon & Schuster. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  8. ^ Lerner, Sharon (October 6, 2018). "Nationwide Class Action Lawsuit Targets DuPont, Chemours, 3M, and Other Makers of PFAS Chemicals". The Intercept. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  9. ^ Schlanger, Zoe (May 29, 2019). "DuPont and 3M knowingly contaminated drinking water across the US, lawsuits allege". Quartz. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  10. ^ https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/14/books/review/exposure-dupont-robert-bilott.html
  11. ^ "Alternative Nobel Prize awarded to four activists". September 26, 2017. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  12. ^ "Robert A. Bilott". bestlawyers.com. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
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