Alex is a partner in Obermayer’s Litigation Department. He concentrates his practice in the areas of complex litigation and environmental law. He often represents clients in litigation driven by complex expert testimony of a technical and/or scientific nature, including both environmental and non-environmental litigation.
Alex represents clients dealing with litigation arising from environmental contamination and resultant toxic torts. This includes representing clients alleged to have caused or contributed to environmental contamination, as well as representing clients who have been harmed by environmental contamination. He has represented a number of energy companies in New Jersey and Pennsylvania in litigation regarding fuel spills. He also has first chair trial experience, under both State and Federal law, with a focus on soil and water contamination.
Additionally, he has represented clients in non-environmental complex litigation. This includes:
- Successfully defending an IT services company from a claim by a New York hedge fund seeking more than $20 million in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Alex served as first chair trial counsel in obtaining a defense verdict after a week-long trial.
- Alex represented specialty chemical manufacturer Bro-Tech Corp. in a large corporate espionage case against an Indian competitor which resulted in a settlement in favor of Bro-Tech Corp. for $38 million.
- Representing large financial services entities, particularly large commercial and residential mortgage servicers, in litigation arising from services provided by those entities.
- Successfully defending a nationwide class action against a large national bank alleged to have engaged in a nationwide practice of overcharging residential mortgage customers.
- Representing commercial mortgage servicers in litigation against large commercial property owners for violation of their contractual obligations.
Alex has also guided clients through litigation against large financial services companies and investment banks. He served as special litigation counsel to the Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Trustee of American Business Financial Services, Inc. (ABFS) in litigation against ABFS’s former officers, directors, lenders, attorneys and accountants, amongst others, with respect to allegations of breaches of fiduciary duty, fraud, aiding and abetting, and negligence associated with the 2005 collapse of ABFS. The litigation resulted in the recovery of more than $140 million for ABFS’s creditors.
Alex’s familiarity with the complexities and opportunities of e-discovery make him particularly sensitive to the importance of planning and implementing strategies to minimize the cost and disruption to his clients’ businesses. He has been involved in dealing with the forensic examination of electronic evidence, the management and review of large repositories of electronic information, and working with both in-house and external IT and data management resources.
Beyond litigation, Alex also advises clients on environmental regulatory matters, including environmental issues arising during the purchase or sale of real estate. He assists clients regarding the various federal environmental statutes as well as Pennsylvania’s Act 2 program, liability under Pennsylvania’s Hazardous Sites Cleanup Program, compliance with New Jersey’s Industrial Site Recovery Act (ISRA), and liability under New Jersey’s Site Remediation Reform Act (SRRA).
Prior to joining Obermayer, Alex was an associate at a law firm in New Orleans, Louisiana, where his practice included complex litigation, class actions, antitrust, mineral lease litigation, and product liability defense.
Alex served as vice-chair and newsletter editor of the American Bar Association’s Toxic Tort and Environmental Litigation Committee of the Section of Environment, Energy and Resources.
