Raymond Mullady, Jr. Obtained Defense Verdict for Schlumberger Technology Corporation

On March 7, 2013, Raymond G. Mullady, Jr., of Blank Rome LLP in Washington, DC, obtained a defense verdict for Schlumberger Technology Corporation ("Schlumberger") following a four-day jury trial in the Northern District of West Virginia in Bombardiere v. SOS Staffing, et al, No. 1:11-cv-00050-JPB (N.D.W.V.), a toxic tort case involving alleged exposure to hydraulic fracturing chemicals. Prior to trial, he obtained summary judgment in favor of Consol Energy, Inc. and its subsidiary, CNX Gas Company, and had won a motion in limine excluding the testimony of plaintiff's toxicologist, Richard Lipsey, Ph.D., following an evidentiary Daubert hearing.

The plaintiff, a Schlumberger employee hired to work on hydraulic fracturing operations on CNX Gas Company drilling sites in Waynesburg, PA, in February 2010, brought eight causes of action against Schlumberger and Consol/CNX, but following motion practice, only one court remained - a claim against Schlumberger under West Virginia's "deliberate intent" exception to an employer's statutory immunity under the West Virginia Workers' Compensation Act. A "deliberate intent" claim in West Virginia requires proof of five elements, the first of which is that "a specific unsafe working condition existed in the workplace which presented a high degree of risk and a strong probability of serious injury or death." On the special verdict form inquiring whether the plaintiff had proven the five elements, the jury answered "no" to the first element of a specific unsafe working condition, and its deliberations ended in Schlumberger's favor.

The entire Blank Rome LLP case and trial team contributed outstanding work to this case. Those individuals include attorneys Mary Mullaney, Sue Rosenthal, Laurie Salita, Joe Click, Dior Watanabe, Kierstan Carlson, Charles Fitzpatrick, and Harrison Kang, and paralegals Diane Canning and Shayne Ford.