George Gigounas

Environmental Law and Toxic Exposures

• Represents major ship repair and maintenance company in multiple CERCLA cleanup and cost-recovery litigations related to soil, groundwater and sediment contamination at multiple industrial port facilities; interfacing with municipal parties and government regulators
• Represented global chemical manufacturer in product litigation, regulatory compliance assessment and program enhancements
• Represented major oil company in multiple CERCLA cleanup and cost-recovery litigation and RCRA cleanup actions, including regulatory interface and long-term remediation processes related to soil and groundwater contamination
• Represented numerous manufacturers in regulatory enforcement defense and compliance litigation, from a wide variety of industries, including glass and packaging, aftermarket auto parts, chemical manufacturing, insecticides, electronics, over-the-counter consumer healthcare products, clothing, food products and others
• Assisted major oil company in conducting internal investigation regarding regulatory compliance surrounding pipeline operation. Guided interactions with multiple California air quality monitoring districts
• Regularly assists construction, heavy industry and commercial development companies in conducting environmental due diligence, assessing regulatory compliance and liability risk in connection with multi-million dollar purchase transactions
• Represented global bottle manufacturer in successful product safety investigation and defense
• Represented a children's product manufacturer in a high-profile recall in both the US and Canada of millions of units of a product in a short time frame

Business Litigation

• Represented former CFO of a multi-billion dollar public company in multiple high-profile securities-related litigations, including derivative claims, class actions and SEC civil litigation
• Represented global real estate investment enterprise in multi-jurisdictional litigation over real estate portfolio values, and fraud and misconduct of prior portfolio owner
• Represented global chemical manufacturing company in litigation with former owners over performance benchmarks and earn-outs, and regulatory compliance matters
• Represented major US bank in multiple litigations regarding value and performance of pension investments and securities lending in the wake of the recent global financial crisis
• Represented publicly traded technology companies in SEC and DOJ investigations and multiple litigations arising from alleged stock option back-dating, and conducted internal corporate investigations regarding options practices at several publicly traded companies
• Represented a real estate investment limited partnership in multiple plaintiff arbitration alleging securities fraud

The Legal 500 United States

• Recommended, Environment: Litigation (2023)
• Recommended, Environment: Regulatory (2023 – 2024)
• Recommended, Environment: Transactional (2023 – 2024)
• Recommended, Product Liability, Mass Tort and Class Actions: Toxic Tort - Defense (2021 – 2024)
• Recommended, Product Liability, Mass Tort and Class Action: Consumer Products (including Tobacco) (2019) 

Additional Recognitions

• Named to the Daily Journal's 2024 Leading Commercial Litigators list

• "Think You're Proposition 65 Compliant? Not for Long…," CPGmatters, May 1, 2017
• "Environmental Considerations for a Prospective Port Tenant," Area Development, April 17, 2017
• "Despite Progress, Big Obstacles Still Loom For Paris Deal," Law360, October 7, 2016
• "WARNING: OEHHA amends California Proposition 65 requirements for 'clear and reasonable warnings,'" Next Steps, September 14, 2016
• "Are Prop 65 Warning Label Changes 'Clear And Reasonable'?," Law360, January 2016
• "The UNFCCC Paris agreement: impressions from the negotiating table for the energy sector – and 10 key points about what comes next," December 18, 2015
• "Changes to California Prop. 65 warning requirements may create new pitfalls for consumer businesses – key points and timeline," December 16, 2015
• "When Crowd Funding Outpaces Compliance Funding,'' Think Globally, May 2015
• "California's Green Chemistry Initiative: 'Work Plan' basics and the 7 product categories – 3 action steps," October 2, 2014
• "California court certifies unlikely class – will it redefine the class action landscape?," Class Action Alert (US), April 24, 2014
• "'Company Doe' wins challenge but loses anonymity - ruling makes it tougher for companies to confront erroneous online claims," Product Liability Alert (US), April 22, 2014
• "Guan V. Bi Limits Jurisdiction In Cross-Border Litigation," Law360, April 1, 2014
• "The Puzzle and Promise of Bitcoin," American Bar Association, March 20, 2014
• "Warning – California proposes major changes for Proposition 65 warnings: take part in the process," Product Liability Alert (US), March 19, 2014
• "California Green Chemistry Initiative's coming Priority Products list and the DTSC Strategic Plan: what do they mean for you?," Product Liability Alert (US), February 25, 2014
• "California's Governor Brown earmarks funds for Prop 65 regulations but the threat of unnecessary litigation remains," Product Liability Alert (US), February 20, 2014