Who We Are

Efficiency, effectiveness and process improvement are the hallmarks of the Greensfelder Manufacturing and Industrial Group, helping clients accelerate positive results with customers, regulators, suppliers and business stakeholders.

With decades of client representations with marquee-branded manufacturing and industrial companies, Greensfelder delivers a comprehensive strategy that satisfies client business objectives with the right speed and tone to optimize the return on investment.

Typical representations include:

• Environmental matters
• Toxic tort disputes
• Product liability
• Intellectual property protection and enforcement
• Transportation and logistics

Why Manufacturing and Industrial Clients Choose Greensfelder

Clients say Greensfelder delivers sound business advice and legal solutions by understanding the business priorities and strategic goals. We are delighted when clients say we are easy to do business with throughout the client experience by becoming an integral part of the client team not simply another lawyer at the table.

What We Do

Environmental

Environmental compliance can be a full-time job for manufacturers and requires a detailed focus on permitting requirements and reporting deadlines.  When a notice of non-compliance occurs, a manufacturer’s continued operations can be on the line along with potential hefty penalties and risk of failing to meet internal company benchmarks. We closely follow the evolution of environmental laws and counsel manufacturers on the impact to operations today and in the future.

We handle a variety of environmental claims in state and federal courts and before state and federal regulatory agencies, including:

• CERCLA cost recovery cases
• Claims arising out of spills and releases of contaminants – pipeline leaks, UST issues and refinery operations
• Class actions arising out of alleged contamination of water, land, and air including MBTE, benzene, lead, lead paint, asbestos and other alleged contaminants
• Environmental dispute resolution
• Environmental enforcement and defense of environmental issues arising from commercial acquisitions and other transactions
• Land use-related litigation arising from mining operations – remediation plans and water releases and subsidence issues
• Permitting and citizen disputes
• Permitting related to drilling, water and air emissions associated with energy projects including refineries and drilling (fracking)
• Property damage, real property claims and diminution in property value
• RCRA and civil and administrative enforcement actions involving Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act actions
• Regulatory investigations and complaints
• Toxic tort
• Toxic nuisance and toxic trespass

Clients turn to our attorneys for advice and regulatory guidance with respect to a host of environmental concerns affecting – or potentially affecting – their business or real estate operations. We have experience handling:

• Advisory services to corporations contemplating a change in services (e.g. chemicals)
• Brownfields and real estate development
• Compliance and due diligence matters
• Corporate and commercial issues
• Environmental management – internal audits, wetlands, and water issues
• Hazardous, infectious and solid waste regulations – RCRA, CERCLA
• Permitting
• Property acquisition
• Site remediation
• Reporting and compliance requirements, federal and state
• Underground storage tanks

Clients we represent include cement plants, environmental remediation companies, farming and animal producers, hazardous waste processors and transporters, landfill owners, manufacturers, mineral processors, oil and gasoline jobbers and marketers, petroleum refiners and marketers and real estate developers.

We also defend client interests when a business operation is confronted with criminal prosecution for claimed violations of environmental laws and represent client business interests in toxic tort litigation arising from exposure to environmental conditions.

Toxic Tort

With offices in metropolitan St. Louis, southern Illinois and the greater Chicago area, we have significant experience working in the most challenging asbestos venues in the country, including Madison and Cook counties in Illinois and the city of St. Louis, Missouri. Our presence, experience and reputation allow us to provide the best possible representation for our clients.

Manufacturers, distributors, and installation companies rely on our attorneys to defend their businesses against significant tort claims connected to exposure to asbestos, benzene, silica, and other chemical and industrial products.

With allegations involving adverse health effects, property, and other damages, a business needs representation by attorneys who are well-versed in the science behind the claim and deeply familiar with the venue in which the claim will be heard.

We represent a range of defendants in thousands of asbestos cases, resolving matters through settlements, voluntary dismissals, summary judgment and trial. We also represent global companies, including a significant number of clients in the automotive, oil and gas and farm equipment industries, who have manufactured, distributed or installed products subject to tort claims, including:

• Boilers
• Cement
• Construction products
• Consumer products
• Cranes
• Electrical products
• Friction products
• Furnaces
• Gaskets
• Insulation
• Respirators
• Talc
• Valves

Premises Representation: Our broad representation of premises defendants includes manufacturing companies, refineries, chemical plants, paper mills, rubber plants, automotive service centers, and mining companies.  Additionally, we have represented residential and commercial contractors who have constructed and repaired premises and subsequently became involved in associated litigation.

Product Liability

When issues with products arise, turn to our team for skilled representation in federal and state courts on a local, regional, and national basis, as well as before administrative agencies.

Client business objectives guide our litigation approach. We become experts in client products, the nature of the business climate and needs of the client business operations – including the science, manufacture, marketing, sale and end use of client products. Representing manufacturers, distributors and retailers, we have developed notable expertise in a variety of sectors, including:

• Tires
• Medical devices, including prosthetic implants and surgical instrumentation
• Automotive restraint systems, seat belts and a variety of component parts
• Heavy machinery/industrial and farming equipment
• Asbestos
• Mining equipment
• Toxic torts
• Agricultural and food stuffs contamination
• Trucks
• Friction products
• Drugs and pharmaceuticals
• Electrical equipment and components
• Chemical products
• Consumer products

Each matter is staffed with an experienced and lean team of attorneys and paralegals. Our philosophy is to individualize each case and work aggressively to be in position to evaluate early on whether a case should be identified as a candidate for trial or for efforts devoted to satisfactory resolution of the case. Through this approach, along with focused discovery and trial preparation strategies, we strive to add value to the services we provide. Additionally, our central location in the Midwest gives us the geographic proximity to litigate cases regionally and nationally while allowing us to offer highly competitive Midwest rates on cases filed from coast to coast.

We are dedicated to promoting product liability issues significant to product manufacturers. We actively participate in the Product Liability Advisory Council (PLAC), the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC), Defense Research Institute (DRI), and similarly focused organizations within national and local bar associations.

Intellectual Property Protection

We deliver Business Case Driven IP solutions, combining experience, efficiencies and economics (E3) that enables us to provide businesses with a ready resource for the Intellectual Property questions, issues and challenges that arise throughout their day-to-day operations.  When the Greensfelder team delivers IP legal services, we keep in mind that IP can transcend all aspects of your business – IP:Connected To Everything_TM.  Intellectual property is often the one thing that stands between a business and its competition. It is an asset that is part of every business. Greensfelder IP stands with its clients as they use these assets to impact their bottom line. We advance support and growth as business partners for clients. We cultivate relationships through “know me” moments and “trust me” moments with our clients and each other.

Types of manufacturing and industrial clients represented include:

• Heavy, industrial machinery
• Agricultural equipment
• Energy, oil and natural gas
• Durable home goods manufacturers
• Food and beverage, flavor and ingredient companies
• Dairy companies
• Spirits distillers
• Coffee industry clients
• Food distributors and brokers
• Food display and packaging companies

 Typical IP representations include:

• Patent prep and prosecution
  • Electrical
  • Mechanical
  • Chemical
  • Life science
  • Technology agreements
  • Licensing
• Trademark, Copyright and Advertising
  • Trademark preparation and prosecution
  • TTAB
  • Specialty advertising
• Complex IP Litigation
  • Patent Infringement and Enforcement
  • Trademark Infringement and Enforcement
  • Post Grant Review/PTAB
  • ITC
  • Hatch Waxman dispute resolution and admin proceeding

Transportation & Logistics

The sophistication of the transportation industry has changed dramatically in recent years. Legal representation should be there not only to help clients through accidents or claims, but also to provide advice to help avoid problems before they occur.

We represent national carriers, logistics companies, truck leasing companies and distributors in all phases of transport and distribution, with a focus in two primary areas:

• Client representation in response to accidents and liability issues
• Counseling on organizational structure, contracts, insurance and other agreements in the effort to avoid future claims

We are involved with a number of transportation associations, maintaining contacts with these other professionals shaping the future of the industry.

We provide long-term strategic planning, defense of claims and regulatory expertise for our clients, using the most advanced technology and leveraging key industry contacts. For our motor carrier clients, we are ready to quickly assess an accident scene with our 24-hour Motor Carrier Emergency Response Team (M-CERT).

We counsel clients through litigation, product liability claims, accidents, catastrophic losses and catastrophic death claims, freight claims, governmental relations and regulatory compliance.

We provide a forward-looking approach to client business operations, reducing risk and potential for future liability. Beginning with an audit, we will address each of the following:

• Contract review and organizational structure with an eye toward increasing entity protections
• Insurance coverage audit to ensure adequate protections are in place in the event of a catastrophic claim relating to leasing or transport
• Incident reports and/or Department of Transportation audits
• Customer relationship review, identifying any potential issues with customers and reviewing agreements for liability shifting provisions, maximum protections and ensuring all agreements are up to date and comply with current law

After the audit, we will make recommendations on implementation and can assist with onsite training or additional auditing to help minimize exposure to liability. Our ongoing representation for transportation clients typically covers corporate and organizational matters, labor negotiations and employment matters, environmental regulations, governmental relations, intellectual property, leasing agreements and MCS-90 and other insurance issues.