Overview
Tony Hopp is an experienced trial lawyer who represents clients in complex commercial, environmental, and mass tort matters. Tony handles all phases of single plaintiff, multi-plaintiff, and class action claims, and has tried multiple commercial and mass tort cases to verdict in state and federal courts. He has also argued and won appeals in Illinois, California, New York, Nebraska, and the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Some of these matters include defeating class certification in multiple consumer class actions, obtaining decertification of a consumer class, and defeating class certification for medical monitoring after a multi-day evidentiary hearing. Tony has also argued and won multiple motions to dismiss in putative consumer class actions involving allegations of consumer fraud and “slack fill”. He has successfully litigated numerous matters involving Lanham Act violations, trade secret claims, and breaches of post-employment restrictive covenants.
Over the course of his career, Tony has handled a wide variety of litigation and counseling engagements. His litigation experience includes mass tort matters, CERCLA cases, RCRA private citizen suits, consumer class actions, insurance coverage disputes including bad faith, unfair competition and Lanham Act claims, trade secret claims, actions for violation of non-compete and non-solicitation agreements, shareholder derivative claims, dealership termination cases, housing discrimination and zoning litigation. His counseling experience includes risk management and product stewardship issues, environmental audits, internal corporate investigations, and local siting of solid waste management facilities.
Tony serves on Steptoe's Pro Bono Committee. He has been on the Board of Directors of the Lawyers' Committee for Better Housing (LCBH) since 2006. In 2005, he received the LCBH Volunteer of the Year award. In 2018, he received LCBH's Pro Bono Service Award. He served as president of the LCBH Board of Directors for five years.
- Illinois
- US District Court, Northern District of Illinois
- US District Court, Central District of Illinois
- US District Court, Southern District of Illinois
- US Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
- US Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
- US Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
- US Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit
- J.D., University of Illinois, 1988, summa cum laude, Order of the Coif
- B.A., University of Illinois, 1984, summa cum laude, Bronze Tablet, English Literature
Representative Matters
Environmental Litigation
- Over thirty years of experience in CERCLA, RCRA and common law environmental remediation and cost-recovery cases for clients across the United States.
- Currently representing a manufacturer of wood preservative products in connection with the Portland Harbor Superfund Site.
- Represented a regional agricultural cooperative network in a series of statewide class action cases alleging nuisance and trespass from the presence of atrazine in drinking water.
- Represented property owner/developer in CERCLA litigation arising from the release of naturally-occurring asbestos.
- Represented a multi-national company in a series of class actions and individual lawsuits alleging property damage from the presence of TCE in groundwater in Illinois and Ohio.
- Represented a municipality in the appeal of a denial of local siting approval for a landfill, and a citizen's group challenging local siting of a transfer station.
Product Liability/Mass Tort Litigation
- Currently representing a regional agricultural cooperative in a multiple personal injury cases claiming exposure to paraquat and glyphosate.
- Currently representing wood preservative manufacturers in personal injury litigation related to chromated copper arsenate wood preservative.
- Represented wood preservative manufacturers in several thousand personal injury cases in West Virginia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Ohio, Washington, New Jersey, New York and California claiming exposure to creosote, pentachlorophenol and chromated copper arsenate.
- Argued and won a products liability/wrongful death case in the Supreme Court of Nebraska arising out of alleged pentachlorophenol exposure.
- Represented chemical manufacturer in a case involving an explosion in a dry-cleaning machine.
Commercial Litigation
- Obtained multiple dismissals of putative class action claims in New York, Florida and California for manufacturer and several global retail clients alleging that labels on hand sanitizer products were allegedly misleading. Obtained de-certification of a certified class of hand sanitizer consumers, followed by a subsequent denial of attempted re-certification, and ultimately dismissal of all claims with prejudice. Courts have now found that, under controlling precedent in multiple states, the statement on a hand sanitizer product's label that it "kills 99% of germs*" is not misleading in light of information on the product's rear label.
- Currently representing a Missouri-based consumer products manufacturer in false advertising litigation.
- Currently representing several major retailers in multiple states in false advertising litigation related to consumer products.
- Currently representing several nutritional supplement manufacturers in consumer fraud and “slack fill” litigation
- Represented helicopter manufacturer in a series of disputes with a major defense contractor over the right to manufacture a light attack helicopter and disputes over late delivery of parts.
- Represented a New York-based internet advertising company in trade secret litigation.
- Represented a New York-based wood preservative manufacturer in Lanham Act litigation.
- Represented a Rockford-based products distributor in trade secret litigation.
- Represented a Chicago-based industrial manufacturer in trade secrets and patent litigation.
Employment Litigation
- Represents the largest US commercial roofing contractor in employment and trade secret litigation.
- Represented a regional hospital system in a series of employment matters.
- Represented a Chicago-based advertising agency in employment and trade secret litigation.
Speaking Engagements
- "Food Contact and Consumer Class Actions," Restaurant Law Center National Restaurant Association 2023 Restaurant Legal Summit, October 25, 2023
- "Food Contact and Consumer Class Actions," Steptoe Food Contact Conference, April 26, 2023
- "Coal Ash Litigation: What's at Stake?," 3rd Annual Coal Ash and CCR Management Conference, January 25-26, 2023
- "Trends in Tort Law," ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources and CropLife America Annual Event: New Developments in Pesticide Law and Policy, November 10, 2021
- "Murky Waters: The Supreme Court's County of Maui Decision and its Impact on Surface Impoundments," 7th Power Plant Decommissioning Operational Excellence, Marcus Evans, April 15, 2021
- "Staying Out of Hot Water: Strategies for Avoiding CWA Enforcement Actions and Citizen's Suits in the Wake of the County of Maui Decision," AECOM Keeping Up With Coal Ash Webinar Series, February 18, 2021
- "The End of Self-Implementation?: EPA's New Proposed Federal Permitting Program," 2nd Annual Coal Ash & Combustion Residual Management Conference, October 7-8, 2020
- "Surface Impoundments and the Coal Ash Rule: Past, Present, and Future," Lawline webcast, July 28, 2020
- "6th Power Plant Decommissioning Operational Excellence Conference: Prioritizing Personnel, Procedures & Partners for Optimal Asset Lifecycles," Marcus Evans webinar, July, 16 2020
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"Do I Really Get Captain America's Shield? Explaining a Permit Shield and What It REALLY Means for You," AECOM Keeping Up With Coal Ash Webinar Series, July 9, 2020
- "Surface Impoundments and the Coal Ash Rule - The Past, Present and Future," Coal Ash & Combustion Residul Management Conference, October 3, 2019
- "A Star is Born?!: How to Avoid Becoming the Star Witness for the Opposing Side After an Environmental Incident," The Chicagoland Safety, Health & Environmental Conference, September 18, 2019
- "Pipeline Accidents: Civil Litigation," Lawline webcast, November 15, 2018
- "The Catastrophic Release: Are You Prepared?" The Chicagoland Safety, Health & Environmental Conference, September 18, 2018
- "Differential Diagnosis and Daubert: Preventing the Misuse of Differential Etiology to Prove Causation," International Association of Defense Council, September 28, 2016
News & Publications
Client Alerts
February 13, 2023
By: Anthony G. Hopp, Mark Rokoff (Burns and McDonnell)
Media Mentions
Steptoe Helps Client CVS Fend Off Class Status in Hand Sanitizer Lawsuit
Bloomberg Law
May 10, 2022
Media Mentions
Inside EPA Covers Steptoe's Webinar on SCOTUS Decision in County of Maui
April 16, 2021
Client Alerts
November 11, 2020
Client Alerts
April 27, 2020
Client Alerts
Coal Ash Rule Update: EPA's Proposed Federal Permit Program
February 27, 2020
Resources
Events
Seminars & Events
Complimentary Food Contact Conference
April 23, 2024 - April 24, 2024
Speakers: Joan Baughan, Daniel C. Rubenstein, Joseph Dages, Carly Rolph, Kimberly Cassidy, Ph.D., Jessica Cooper, Ph.D., Patricia Kinne, Tom Gillett, Ruxandra Cana, Daniel Blynn, Anthony G. Hopp, Surya Kundu, Caleb Holland, Dr. Yan Gu
Keynote Speakers: Dr. Paul Honigfort, Dr. Zhu Lei
Seminars & Events
Complimentary Food Contact Conference
April 25, 2023 - April 26, 2023
Speakers: Joan Baughan, Daniel C. Rubenstein, Joseph Dages, Carly Rolph, Kimberly Cassidy, Ph.D., Jessica Cooper, Ph.D., Patricia Kinne, Glen Rosini, Tom Gillett, Anthony G. Hopp, Ruxandra Cana, Coy Garrison, Abigail Miller, Regulatory Review Chemist, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Sean Fischer, Consumer Safety Officer, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Daniel Felton, Executive Director, AMERIPEN
Webinars
County of Maui and its Aftermath
April 14, 2021
Speakers: Anthony G. Hopp, Julie Michalski, Dennis Connair (VP, Principal Geologist, AECOM)
Webinars
December 13, 2017
Speaker: Anthony G. Hopp
Noteworthy
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Adjunct faculty member, The University of Illinois College of Law (2014-present)
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Super Lawyers, Illinois, Environmental (2018-2021)
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Legal 500 US, Environment: Litigation (2017)
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Legal 500 US, Litigation: Product Liability and Mass Tort Defense - Toxic Tort (2016)
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Leading Lawyers, Commercial Litigation, Environmental Law, Products Liability Defense Law, Toxic Torts Defense Law (2013-2020)
Professional Affiliations
- International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC)