United States Second Circuit

In a products liability action arising from the alleged injuries, mostly forms of cancer, caused by veterans' exposure to the chemical defoliant "Agent Orange" used during their service in Vietnam, summary judgment for defendants is affirmed over claims that the district court: 1) erred in concluding that the government contractor defense applied to bar plaintiffs' claims; and 2) abused its discretion by denying them discovery beyond what was available in files from prior Agent Orange litigation.

Appellate Information

• Decided 03/26/2008
• Published 03/26/2008

Judges

• SACK, Circuit Judge:, Before:  MINER, SACK, and HALL, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Second Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• James Boanerges, Cooper, Sprague, Jackson & Boanerges, P.C., Houston, TX;  Mark I. Bronson, Newman, Bronson & Wallis, St. Louis, Missouri;  Gerson H. Smoger, Smoger & Associates, Oakland, CA;  Mark R. Cuker, Williams Cuker Berezofsky, Philadelphia, PA, for Plaintiffs-Appellants., Christopher E. Buckey, Shanley, Sweeney, Reilly, & Allen, P.C., Albany, NY;  David E. Cherry, Campbell, Cherry, Harrison, Davis & Dove, P.C., Waco, TX;  John H. Pucheu, Pucheu, Pucheu & Robertson, L.L.P., Eunice, LA;  Bernard F. Duhon, Abbeville, LA;  Robert B. Evans, III, Burgos, Evans & Wilson LLC, Metairie, LA;  Nira T. Kersmich, Rochester, NY;  Jeffrey D. Guerriero, Guerriero & Guerriero, Monroe, LA;  Morris E. Cohen, Brooklyn, NY;  James Russell Tucker, Dallas, TX (on the briefs), for Plaintiffs-Appellants., William A. Rossbach (Timothy M. Bechtel, of counsel), Rossbach, Hart, Bechtel, P.C., Missoula, MT;  P.B. Onderdonk, Jr., National Judge Advocate, The American Legion, Indianapolis, IN, for Amicus Curiae Veterans and Military Service Organizations., Ian Heath Gershengorn (Lise T. Spacapan and Fazal R. Khan, on the brief), Jenner & Block LLP, Washington DC, for Amicus Curiae American Chemistry Council and Chlorine Chemistry Council., Raphael Metzger, Metzger Law Group, Long Beach, CA, for Amicus Curiae Drs. Brian G. Durie, Devra Davis, Peter L. deFur, Alan Lockwood, David Ozonoff, Arnold J. Schecter, David Wallinga, Carl F. Cranor, The Council for Education and Research on Toxic, and the Lymphoma Foundation of America.


• For Appellees:
  
• Andrew L. Frey, Charles A. Rothfeld (Lauren R. Goldman, Christopher J. Houpt, of counsel), Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP, New York, NY, for Defendants-Appellees., John C. Sabetta, Andrew T. Hahn, Sr., Seyfarth Shaw LLP, New York, NY;  Seth P. Waxman, Paul R.Q. Wolfson, Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale & Dorr, Washington, DC;  Richard P. Bress, Latham & Watkins, Washington, DC;  Michael M. Gordon, King & Spaulding LLP, New York, NY;  William A. Krohley, William C. Heck, Kelley Drye & Warren LLP, New York, NY;  James L. Stengel, Laurie Strauch Weiss, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, New York, NY;  Steven Brock, James V. Aiosa, Richard S. Feldman, Rivkin Radler LLP, Uniondale, NY;  Lawrence D'Aloise, Jr., Clark, Gagliardi & Miller, White Plains, NY;  Myron Kalish, New York, N.Y. (on the brief), for Defendants-Appellees.