David Hird is a partner in Weil’s Washington, D.C. office who concentrates his practice on litigation in the areas of environmental law, insurance, and general commercial litigation, including bankruptcy cases.
Environmental Litigation
Mr. Hird is a former senior trial attorney with the Environmental Enforcement Section of the Department of Justice, where he was lead counsel on behalf of the United States on several of the seminal Superfund cases including Reilly Tar, Ottati & Goss, Vertac and Cannons Engineering, and received two Special Achievement Awards from the Attorney General, and two Special Commendations.
At Weil, Mr. Hird has represented numerous clients in environmental litigation, including both enforcement actions brought by government and private litigation. In United States v. W.R. Grace (D. Montana), a case described by the government as its significant environmental criminal prosecution, Mr. Hird defended former W.R. Grace officer Robert Bettacchi, and obtained a jury verdict of acquittal on all charges, including a knowing endangerment charge under the Clean Air Act which could have resulted in 15 years imprisonment if he had been convicted. Mr. Hird obtained a judgment of no liability for Avatar Holdings in United States v. Avatar Holdings, Inc. (M.D. Fla.), where the government was seeking $5 million in penalties for alleged violations of the Clean Water Act. In United States v. Anderson Greenwood & Co. (S.D. Tex.), Mr. Hird persuaded the Court to refuse to enter a Superfund Consent Decree between EPA and 117 other parties because Mr. Hird’s client was unfairly excluded from the settlement process. In United States v. CBS Corp., Mr. Hird renegotiated a Consent Decree with the government that resolved CBS’s liability at five Superfund sites at substantially reduced cost. Mr. Hird successfully represented Elementis Chemicals in recovering the costs of cleanup against the prior owner of the 14 contaminated properties.
Mr. Hird has also represented companies in bankruptcy with substantial environmental liabilities, both litigating these issues and negotiating favorable settlements. In particular, he has assisted such corporate debtors as Enron, Motors Liquidation Company (the “old” General Motors), Armstrong, Sunbeam, SemGroup, Aleris, and Circle K in resolving environmental liabilities in the course of their bankruptcy cases. He served on the Environmental Claims Working Group of the National Bankruptcy Conference.
Mr. Hird has been recognized as a leading Environmental Law practitioner in Chambers USA.
Insurance Litigation
Mr. Hird has represented policyholders in numerous actions against insurance companies.
He successfully represented National Steel Corporation and Alumet in recovering environmental response costs against their insurers. He also represented International Wire Group in recovering product liability damages, Electrical Components, Inc., in recovering product recall expenses, and Guilford Mills in recovering property damage and business interruption losses. Mr. Hird has advised debtors in bankruptcy about their insurance rights under various types of policies, including commercial liability, director and officer liability, fiduciary liability, political risk, and crime policies. In addition, Mr. Hird has represented insurance companies in defending against suits brought to challenge their marketing practices and in reinsurance disputes.
Commercial and Bankruptcy Litigation
Mr. Hird has represented numerous clients in commercial litigation. He has represented clients enforcing security interests, guarantees, letters of credit, and contract rights in cases in federal and state courts, bankruptcy courts, and arbitration proceedings. He has represented debtors in major chapter 11 cases, including Washington Mutual, Nortek, Armstrong, SemGroup, Enron, WorldCom, and Crescent Resources.
Mr. Hird is the author of Chapter 4 “Federal Brownfields Legislation” in the ABA Book: Brownfields: A Comprehensive Guide to Redeveloping Contaminated Property (3d Ed. 2010), edited by Todd S. Davis and Scott A. Sherman.
Mr. Hird is a member of the District of Columbia Bar, and of the bars of various federal courts, including the US Supreme Court, and the US Courts of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Second Circuit, Fifth Circuit, Seventh Circuit, and Eleventh Circuit, and the US District Court for the District of Columbia. He has appeared pro hac vice in cases in federal and state courts around the country.
Mr. Hird holds an A.B. from Cornell University, an A.M. from the University of Michigan, and a J.D. from New York University, where he served as Associate Editor of the New York University Law Review and was a member of the Order of the Coif. He received the Edmond Cahn award for his work as an editor of the Law Review.