The boom in shale gas drilling through use of hydraulic fracturing technology (“fracking”) has brought both economic development and environmental angst. Vigorous debates play out daily regarding exactly how much benefit, as well as risk, will flow from exploiting America’s shale basins, with both advocates and detractors rushing to claim that they are best able to determine how America can safely develop its natural gas resources. The public interest in fracking also has focused attention on the potential for high-stakes litigation. Although early predictions of a toxic tort explosion have not materialized, claims do continue to be filed as the scientific evidence and regulatory infrastructure impacting fracking continues to evolve.

This 90-minute webinar will bring together scientific, legal, and business perspectives on where fracking litigation stands today and where it may be headed. It will look at the strength of the scientific claims and defenses, as well as emerging issues for companies to consider, whether contemplating investments in shale gas, assessing how best to reduce or mitigate risk, or defending against filed claims.

Specific topics for discussion include:

How is Sound Science Impacting Fracking Claims and Defenses?

• Water resources and impacts from water use and disposal
• Airborne exposures to dust or released gases
• Silica from proppants used for fracking

What are the litigation issues to watch?

• Lone Pine and other creative case-management tools
• Using Daubert to defeat class certification
• Securities and other commercial litigation

What is the view from inside?

• Confidentiality agreements and fracking settlements
• FracFocus and chemical disclosures
• The evolving regulatory landscape

Register easily and securely to reserve your space now for Bloomberg BNA's upcoming EHS Webinar and get a $75 discount as a Bloomberg BNA subscriber! Or, call 800-372-1033, menu Option 6, submenu Option 1, and refer to the date and title of this conference. Lines are open from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET, excluding most federal holidays.

Don’t miss this opportunity to hear a lively, dynamic presentation. Not only are EHS Webinars an excellent way for you to stay current, with Bloomberg BNA you also get:

• Quality. Count on it. Nothing is canned.
• Objectivity. Bloomberg BNA provides you with the best and most objective information. Unlike other companies, we don’t use our Webinars as a forum to sell outside solutions.
• Affordability. EHS Webinars are inexpensive compared to the cost of travel to attend a conference. Plus, you may use a speakerphone and invite as many of your colleagues as you want to listen in—all for the price of a single registration.
• Convenience. No airlines. No travel. No time out of the office.

In addition, you’ll receive:

• Personal attention. Once you’ve registered, send your questions in advance to annebrown@bna.com and they’ll be included in the program. You’ll also have a chance to ask your questions during the Webinar.
• Follow-up materials. You need no materials upfront to follow along to our live conference. But Bloomberg BNA always issues a follow-up e-mail with contact information for our speakers as well as other materials related to the topic.
• CLE credits will be available for this EHS Webinar. 

Hope S. Freiwald, Dechert LLP; David P. Poole, Range Resources Corporation; and Dr. John D. Schell, Exponent

Hope S. Freiwald is a trial lawyer at Dechert LLP, whose practice includes a broad range of complex product liability, commercial, and consumer class action cases. Hope was recently named “Lawyer of the Year” in Philadelphia for defendants in product liability litigation by Best Lawyers in America. She also is highlighted as a “litigation star” by Benchmark Litigation 2013 and as a “life sciences star” by LMG Life Sciences 2012. She was recommended for her crisis management work in the 2011 edition of The Legal 500 (U.S.). Hope also has been noted for her work in mass tort and class action defense by US News and Best Lawyers in America since 2007 and described as “top notch” in HealthLaw360. In addition to her litigation work, Hope regularly advises companies on reducing and managing litigation risks. She has counseled companies in relation to product development and labeling, as well as sales and promotional activities. Hope is a graduate of Brown University and Columbia Law School. She is licensed to practice law in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.


David P. Poole is senior vice president and general counsel and corporate secretary for Range Resources Corporation, an oil and gas exploration and production company based in Fort Worth, Texas. David joined Range in June 2008 as its first general counsel. Prior to joining Range, from May 2004 until March 2008 he was with TXU Corp., serving last as executive vice president, legal, and general counsel. Before joining TXU, David spent 16 years with Hunton & Williams LLP and its predecessor, Worsham, Forsythe & Wooldridge as an associate, partner, and managing partner of the Dallas office. David graduated from Texas Tech University with a B.S. in petroleum engineering and received a J.D., magna cum laude, from Texas Tech University School of Law where he was on the law review. He is licensed to practice law in Texas.


Dr. John D. Schell is a Principal Scientist in Exponent’s Health Sciences Center for Toxicology and Mechanistic Biology. He has more than 20 years of environmental assessment experience, focusing on human health and ecological impacts of PCBs, dioxins, volatile organic, chlorinated pesticides, and metals. He is a former member of the faculty at the University of Florida, and has held adjunct teaching positions at the University of South Florida and the University of Florida. He has experience performing human health and ecological risk assessments under state and federal programs such as superfund, RCRA, and state risk-based corrective action programs. His experience includes assessing the toxicity of PCBs, dioxins, VOCs, pesticides, aromatic hydrocarbons, and metals, investigating their mode of action, and their impact on human health and the environment. His activities include work on some of the largest river sites in the United States and he has worked on projects in 27 states across the country. John has provided Congressional briefings in Washington, D.C., is a former member of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee, and is qualified as an expert in toxicology in both federal and state courts.