W. Larkin Radney IV, Partner
Birmingham
|
205-581-0786 phone
|
205-581-0799 fax
|
lradney@lightfootlaw.com
Biography
Larkin Radney is a seasoned environmental and toxic tort litigator.
For more than 20 years, Larkin has focused his practice on environmental and toxic tort litigation. He handles cases involving complex mass torts, environmental class actions, groundwater contamination, air and water pollution, water rights, and exposure to various pesticides and chemicals such as asbestos, silica and benzene. He has also represented clients in a variety of individual toxic tort, premises liability, pharmaceutical and product liability claims.
In addition, Larkin has extensive experience in Superfund litigation and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Citizen Suit litigation, and he counsels clients regarding state and federal environmental laws and regulations, including state and federal enforcement for alleged violations of the Clean Water Act. He also has challenged federal agency actions under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Larkin enjoys the challenge of condensing complex scientific and technical issues and presenting them to a judge and jury in a simple, direct and forceful manner. He believes that with diligence, creativity and hard work, even the most complex issues can be honed to a salient and succinct narrative that compels a favorable outcome for his clients. Larkin often works closely with experts in the fields of geology, meteorology, hydrology, toxicology, epidemiology, risk assessment, economics, real estate valuation, pathology, industrial hygiene, engineering and medicine.
Larkin serves on the Executive Committee for the Alabama State Bar Environmental Law Section. He also serves on the firm's Associate Committee. While in law school, Larkin was a member of the nation’s oldest law review dedicated to issues of environmental law, and he received a Certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law in addition to his law degree.
Outside of work, Larkin enjoys spending time with his wife and two children. A native of Alexander City, Alabama, Larkin and his family spend as much time as possible on Lake Martin. Larkin is also an active musician and plays the drums for a local blues band. He enjoys all kinds of fishing, particularly offshore fishing in the Gulf of Mexico.
Representative Matters
- Defending a manufacturer in a series of lawsuits (including several class actions and a RCRA Citizen Suit) alleging that its facility caused property damage and personal injury by contaminating waterways, soils and fish with persistent pollutants.
- Defending a manufacturer against claims by municipal water supply providers (and putative classes of water customers) alleging that the company's products contaminated public water supplies in Georgia and Alabama.
- Representing numerous clients in asbestos cases in Alabama and Florida alleging that exposure to various products (including friction products, gaskets, packing, external insulation, and talc) caused mesothelioma and other malignancies, including winning numerous cases on summary judgment and successfully defending the results on appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court.
- Defending a developer against a Clean Water Act Citizen Suit relating to erosion and sedimentation issues
that arose during a major construction project.
- Defending a manufacturer against claims brought by several hundred plaintiffs alleging that airborne
releases from the client’s facility caused property damage and personal injury.
- Representing a variety of clients against single-plaintiff claims alleging injury from exposure to various chemicals, including silica dust, benzene, pesticides, PAHs, isocyanates and other industrial chemicals.
- Serving as court-appointed coordinating defense counsel in a number of asbestos cases consolidated in a special asbestos docket in Jefferson County, Alabama.
- Advising and representing a landowner in an enforcement proceeding brought by the EPA regarding alleged violations of the Clean Water Act’s prohibition on discharging dredged or fill material into wetlands.
- Representing a municipality in a RCRA Citizen Suit involving contamination at a former pesticide manufacturing facility.
- Representing a real estate development company in a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ operation of federal reservoirs under the Administrative Procedure Act and National Environmental Policy Act.
- Representing the owner of a coal tar refinery in a lawsuit brought by more than 1,200 individual plaintiffs alleging property damage and personal injury from facility air emissions.
- Defending the owner of a paper mill against claims that its air emissions caused childhood asthma in the surrounding community.
- Defending the owner of a former fertilizer plant in a class action in the Florida panhandle alleging property damage from a plume of underground contaminants.
- Representing a gasket manufacturer against claims that its product leaked and caused the plaintiff to inhale a fatal dose of industrial chemicals.
- Representing the owner of an ammonia production facility against numerous wrongful death claims arising from accidents on its premises.
- Defending a chemical manufacturer against a class action alleging its operations had contaminated the water and sediments in a major lake.
- Representing the state of Alabama in its long-standing dispute with the state of Georgia and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over interstate water rights.
|
Legal Assistant
Bio 
Larkin Radney is a seasoned environmental and toxic tort litigator.
For more than 20 years, Larkin has focused his practice on environmental and toxic tort litigation. He handles cases involving complex mass torts, environmental class actions, groundwater contamination, air and water pollution, water rights, and exposure to various pesticides and chemicals such as asbestos, silica and benzene. He has also represented clients in a variety of individual toxic tort, premises liability, pharmaceutical and product liability claims.
In addition, Larkin has extensive experience in Superfund litigation and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Citizen Suit litigation, and he counsels clients regarding state and federal environmental laws and regulations, including state and federal enforcement for alleged violations of the Clean Water Act. He also has challenged federal agency actions under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Larkin enjoys the challenge of condensing complex scientific and technical issues and presenting them to a judge and jury in a simple, direct and forceful manner. He believes that with diligence, creativity and hard work, even the most complex issues can be honed to a salient and succinct narrative that compels a favorable outcome for his clients. Larkin often works closely with experts in the fields of geology, meteorology, hydrology, toxicology, epidemiology, risk assessment, economics, real estate valuation, pathology, industrial hygiene, engineering and medicine.
Larkin serves on the Executive Committee for the Alabama State Bar Environmental Law Section. He also serves on the firm's Associate Committee. While in law school, Larkin was a member of the nation’s oldest law review dedicated to issues of environmental law, and he received a Certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law in addition to his law degree.
Outside of work, Larkin enjoys spending time with his wife and two children. A native of Alexander City, Alabama, Larkin and his family spend as much time as possible on Lake Martin. Larkin is also an active musician and plays the drums for a local blues band. He enjoys all kinds of fishing, particularly offshore fishing in the Gulf of Mexico.
Experience
Representative Matters
Defending a manufacturer in a series of lawsuits (including several class actions and a RCRA Citizen Suit) alleging that its facility caused property damage and personal injury by contaminating waterways, soils and fish with persistent pollutants.
Defending a manufacturer against claims by municipal water supply providers (and putative classes of water customers) alleging that the company's products contaminated public water supplies in Georgia and Alabama.
Representing numerous clients in asbestos cases in Alabama and Florida alleging that exposure to various products (including friction products, gaskets, packing, external insulation, and talc) caused mesothelioma and other malignancies, including winning numerous cases on summary judgment and successfully defending the results on appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court.
Defending a developer against a Clean Water Act Citizen Suit relating to erosion and sedimentation issues
that arose during a major construction project.
Defending a manufacturer against claims brought by several hundred plaintiffs alleging that airborne
releases from the client’s facility caused property damage and personal injury.
Representing a variety of clients against single-plaintiff claims alleging injury from exposure to various chemicals, including silica dust, benzene, pesticides, PAHs, isocyanates and other industrial chemicals.
Serving as court-appointed coordinating defense counsel in a number of asbestos cases consolidated in a special asbestos docket in Jefferson County, Alabama.
Advising and representing a landowner in an enforcement proceeding brought by the EPA regarding alleged violations of the Clean Water Act’s prohibition on discharging dredged or fill material into wetlands.
Representing a municipality in a RCRA Citizen Suit involving contamination at a former pesticide manufacturing facility.
Representing a real estate development company in a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ operation of federal reservoirs under the Administrative Procedure Act and National Environmental Policy Act.
Representing the owner of a coal tar refinery in a lawsuit brought by more than 1,200 individual plaintiffs alleging property damage and personal injury from facility air emissions.
Defending the owner of a paper mill against claims that its air emissions caused childhood asthma in the surrounding community.
Defending the owner of a former fertilizer plant in a class action in the Florida panhandle alleging property damage from a plume of underground contaminants.
Representing a gasket manufacturer against claims that its product leaked and caused the plaintiff to inhale a fatal dose of industrial chemicals.
Representing the owner of an ammonia production facility against numerous wrongful death claims arising from accidents on its premises.
Defending a chemical manufacturer against a class action alleging its operations had contaminated the water and sediments in a major lake.
Representing the state of Alabama in its long-standing dispute with the state of Georgia and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over interstate water rights.
Education
Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College
(J.D., magna cum laude)
Tulane University
(B.A., cum laude)
Court Admissions
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Awards
The Best Lawyers in America© by BL Rankings — Environmental Law, Environmental Litigation (2021-24)
|
