Mark Fitzsimmons

Partner

• mfitzsimmons@steptoe.com
• vCard
• Washington Office

Mark Fitzsimmons is a partner in the Washington office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, where he is a member of the Litigation Department.  He has practiced law for 30 years in the areas of toxic tort and product liability litigation, and environmental law and litigation.

Prior to joining Steptoe, Mr. Fitzsimmons was a trial attorney with the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the US Department of Justice.  While at the Department, he represented the United States in numerous environmental cases at both the trial and appellate levels.  More recently he was in private practice as a partner at another national law firm in Washington, representing clients in toxic tort and environmental litigation.

Toxic Tort
Within the area of toxic tort, Mr. Fitzsimmons has defended cases throughout the United States alleging personal injury and property damage due to chemical exposure.  The chemicals at issue have ranged from volatile organic compounds, e.g. benzene, to metals, PCBs and dioxins, and numerous other substances. 

The medical allegations have included cancer, neurological injury, birth defects, and risk and fear of future injury.  Many actions have alleged environmental exposures from contaminated groundwater or air emissions, while others have alleged exposure at the workplace. 

Mr. Fitzsimmons has also handled business damage cases, claiming lost profits and interference with business opportunities due to chemical releases.

Representative experience includes:

• An 11-week jury trial in federal court in Kentucky, involving a variety of personal injury and property damage claims due to environmental releases of chemicals, favorably settled just prior to closing arguments.
• A defense verdict in an eight-week jury trial, in state court in Texas, alleging neurologic injury due to occupational exposure to solvents, cited by the National Law Journal as one of the top 10 defense verdicts in the year the case was tried.
• Successful opposition to a proposed class action asserting contaminated drinking water, after a hearing, in state court in New Jersey, with a resulting nuisance settlement.

Environmental Work
Mr.  Fitzsimmons' environmental practice has focused on litigation, but it has also included appellate work, counseling, and legislative issues.  He has experience with some of the larger hazardous waste sites in the country both inside the government and out, and was a Justice Department representative to the National Response Team, an interdepartmental government body that developed policies and procedures for cleanups under the Clean Water Act and CERCLA.  Since returning to private practice he has handled numerous issues under all the major environmental statutes.

Representative experience includes:

• Successful litigation through trial and appeal of enforcement actions under the Clean Water Act in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.
• Successful litigation of an oil spill cleanup cost recovery action, in a trial in the Court of Federal Claims.
• Argument of a Petition to Review EPA regulation of a pesticide under the Safe Drinking Water Act, in the DC Circuit.
• Comments to EPA on its revised cancer assessment guidelines.  

Mr.  Fitzsimmons has lectured and published on several toxic tort and environmental topics.

Select News & Events

• "Regulatory Status and Litigation Concerning Fracking," 14th Annual Electric Power Conference & Exhibition, May 17, 2012
• "Judicial Review of Federal Compliance Orders After Sackett v. EPA", May 15, 2012
• "Low-Dose Exposure and Causation - Benzene," George Mason University School of Law Judicial Symposium on Scientific Evidence in the Courts, April 23, 2012
• Fracking Under Pressure: Crucial Litigation Tactics You Need to Know, National Constitution Center Conference
• It’s All About the Science: Presenting the Expert Witness at A Chemical Exposure Trial, ABA Litigation Workshop
• Are Plaintiff Attorney-Funded, Contingency Fee-Based Public Nuisance Lawsuits Proper?, American Conference Seminar: Preventing & Defending Chemical Products Liability Litigation

Selected Publications

• Fracking Industry Braces for a Wave of Regulation
  April 18, 2012, POWER
• Fracking: With the Gas, a Flow of Litigation
  February 23, 2012, POWER
• When 'Likely' Does Not Mean 'More Likely Than Not': The Dangers of Allowing Governmental Chemical Classifications and Numeric Risk Assessments at Trial
  February 6, 2012, Bloomberg BNA Product Safety & Liability Reporter
• Avoiding A Fracking Mess
  September 7, 2011, Law360
• Maintaining Healthy Relationships With Co-Counsel In Complex Tort Litigation
  The Practical Litigator
• The ATSDR: A Plaintiff’s Dream Come True?
  BNA Toxics Law Reporter
• The Real Estate Lawyer’s Primer (and more) to Superfund: The Environmental Hazards of Real Estate Transactions
  ABA Real Property, Probate and Trust Journal
• Judging Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Claims: The Verdict Is In
  Metropolitan Corporate Counsel

Professional Affiliations

• Defense Research Institute