Mary Rose Alexander, Global Chair of Latham & Watkins’ Environmental Litigation Practice, represents clients in complex commercial litigation and trials involving class actions, toxic torts, environmental matters, industrial accidents, products, insurance, and commercial contracts in state and federal courts and arbitration forums across the country.
A nationally recognized trial lawyer, Ms. Alexander represents Fortune 500 companies in some of their most difficult, high-stakes litigation, often in the most hostile jurisdictions.
She has been recognized by publications such as Chambers USA, Law Dragon, The American Lawyer, The Legal 500, Crain’s Chicago Business, and Best Lawyers in America for her trial work. Recently, Ms. Alexander was named to the Top 250 Women in Litigation 2020 by Benchmark Litigation, which recognized lawyers who “participat[ed] in some of the most impactful litigation matters in recent history.” In representing clients, she draws on considerable success defending against multi-state, multi-plaintiff litigation, particularly with energy, manufacturing, and chemical company clients. She is especially skilled in cases involving complicated scientific matters related to chemicals such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), lead, metals, and solvents.
Ms. Alexander has tried scores of complex commercial cases across the country related to:
- Class actions
- Toxic torts
- Environmental regulations
- Major industrial accidents
- Product liability / consumer fraud
- Energy / oil and gas contracts
- Insurance coverage
Her diverse platform and unique skill set led to her appointment as the firm’s Vice Chair of both the Litigation & Trial Department and the Environmental, Land & Resources Department; positions she held for six years. She is currently the firm’s Global Chair of the Women Enriching Business Committee and leads the firms efforts to promote women in the legal profession.
Ms. Alexander's experience includes representing:
- Syngenta in an international arbitration regarding a commercial dispute; recent remote 2-week trial)
- Clorox in alleged public nuisance litigation regarding ocean plastic
- Netflix in multiple putative class actions involving state franchise taxes
- LG Polymers India in litigation and regulatory matters arising from industrial accident in Vizag, India
- Dow Chemical Company in alleged public nuisance litigation relating to TCE released from multiple California dry cleaner sites
- Weyerhaeuser in multiple putative class actions / product liability and consumer fraud lawsuits involving building products following national recall; recent jury trial
- Marathon Oil Company in alleged public nuisance litigation involving methane release
- Nalco Company in an MDL including numerous class actions arising out of the Gulf of Mexico 2010 oil spill; obtained summary judgment that claims are preempted by federal law
- Mercuria Energy Trading Inc. in litigation involving a take-or-pay contract for a crude by rail facility; recent state court trial
- CONSOL Inc., in a recent state court trial involving a midstream gas joint venture; obtained complete trial victory
- Northern States Power Company of Wisconsin in CERCLA litigation involving PAH contamination; recent federal trial
- Georgia-Pacific Corporation in CERCLA litigation involving the US$1.6 billion remediation of alleged PCB contamination in the sediments of the Fox River in Wisconsin; recent federal trials
- Chevron Corporation in toxic tort litigation involving nuclear contamination on the University of Tulsa’s Oklahoma campus; recent motion to dismiss victory
- Arizona Public Service Company in an arbitration involving a coal supply contract with the Navajo Nation
- Monsanto in multiple product liability / public nuisance lawsuits involving PCB contamination in various water bodies
- Guidant Corporation in multi-state insurance coverage litigation involving medical devices
- Kilroy Realty in insurance coverage litigation involving construction matter
- Meritor, Inc. in insurance coverage litigation for tens of thousands of asbestos bodily injury claims
- Chevron Corporation in “Hot Fuels” MDL involving numerous class actions regarding the temperature of gasoline
- Pipeline company in a 400-plaintiff toxic tort litigation involving alleged drinking water contamination from an accidental pipeline release; obtained complete resolution