The dollar amount obtained by the Division in 2015 represents a 30 percent increase -- approximately $105 million more -- than the amount obtained by the Division in 2014.

Monies obtained through litigation on behalf of the State included settlements and judgments resulting from environmental litigation, taxation matters and lawsuits alleging consumer, securities and other fraud, as well as other types of affirmative litigation and debt recovery actions. Litigation-related payouts by the State in 2015 totaled approximately $98.2 million.

Acting Attorney General Hoffman credited Division attorneys for their continuing commitment to excellence in 2015, noting that they provided a consistently high level of representation in every facet of the legal mission – including advice to client agencies, defense of state statutes, and the handling of a wide range of litigation issues, many of them complex and/or highly sensitive.

”Day in and day out, our dedicated lawyers are in every corner of the state doing work that matters – protecting children from abuse and neglect, preserving the environment, protecting consumers, preserving public financial assets and safeguarding civil rights, to name just a few,” said Hoffman. “While the dollars recovered in any given year can be influenced by many variables, there is one constant -- the very high caliber of legal representation being provided by our Division of Law attorneys.”

Among the significant outcomes obtained by Division attorneys in 2015 was the historic, $225 million ExxonMobil environmental settlement approved by a Superior Court Judge in August of 2015. The settlement resolved ExxonMobil’s liability for damage to the environment and injury to natural resources caused by contamination from the corporation’s refinery operations in Bayonne and Linden, as well as other ExxonMobil facilities and service stations throughout New Jersey.

The landmark agreement, which resolved 10 years of litigation between the State and ExxonMobil, represents the single largest environmental settlement with a corporate defendant in State history. It also represents the second largest Natural Resources Damages payout by a single company in United States history.

Other noteworthy outcomes obtained by the Division of Law included:

Standard & Poor’s: New Jersey received $21.5 million as part of a global settlement with Standard and Poor’s Financial Services LLP that involved a total of 19 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Department of Justice. Finalized in February 2015, the settlement resolved multiple lawsuits against Standard and Poor’s (and its parent company McGraw Hill Financial, Inc.) The lawsuits alleged that Standard & Poor’s violated state and federal laws by misleading consumers. Specifically, the company harmed investors by falsely claiming to be an independent source of analysis on complex investments known as structured finance securities, when in fact its ratings of the securities were driven by in-house revenue goals, as well as favoritism toward investment banking clients who issued the securities and paid the company related fees.

MTBE Litigation: The State entered into two separate settlements worth a total of $15.5 million in 2015 that resolved MTBE litigation against two defendants. Acting on behalf of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Division of Law attorneys previously had filed suit against numerous oil and chemical companies for causing damage to New Jersey’s groundwater by manufacturing, blending and distributing the gasoline additive MTBE (Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether.) In 2015, defendant Lyondell Chemical Company settled with the State for $13.4 million, and defendant Vitol, a global energy company, settled for $2.15 million. More settlements in the MTBE litigation are anticipated in 2016. Defendants in the case include major petroleum refiners, distributors and sellers of gasoline in New Jersey, as well as independent chemical manufacturers of MTBE.
 
D.S.C. of Newark Enterprises: In 2015, Division of Law attorneys negotiated a Consent Decree with the present owner of the Cornell-Dubilier Superfund Site in South Plainfield, Middlesex County. Under the Consent Decree, which also involved the federal government, New Jersey obtained a total of $5.7 million in clean-up costs and Natural Resource Damages.

The 2015 Consent Decree was the second such agreement achieved on behalf of the State by Division attorneys relative to the Cornell-Dubilier property. In 2014, in a related case against Cornell-Dubilier Electronics, Inc. and the former owner/operator of the site, Division lawyers negotiated a Consent Decree that enabled DEP to obtain a total of $10.6 million in clean-up costs and NRDs.

Chase Bank USA and Chase Bankcard Services: New Jersey received approximately $7 million as a result of its participation in a multi-state and federal settlement with Chase Bank, USA and Chase Bankcard Services., Inc., that resolved allegations Chase used false affidavits to support debt collection lawsuits and engaged in other deceptive, collection-related business practices. Among other allegedly unfair and misleading practices, Chase was accused of employing “robo-signed” debt collection affidavits – affidavits from staffers who either had no direct knowledge of, or had not authenticated the information in, the affidavits – when creating case files against consumers it was suing over unpaid debt.

Accutest Laboratories: Middlesex-County-based Accutest Laboratories, which did testing work for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, agreed to pay the State $2 million to resolve allegations that it deviated from both federal and state requirements for the extraction and testing of certain compounds. Allegations central to the case flowed from a federal qui tam or “whistleblower” lawsuit filed in 2013 by a former Accutest employee. The lawsuit alleged that Accutest violated both the federal and New Jersey False Claims Acts by contracting with government agencies to test certain semi-volatile organic compounds, but not following U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requirements for doing so. Specifically, the Complaint alleged that some line-level technicians in Accutest’s extraction laboratories failed to comply with Standard Operating Procedures or prescribed testing methods.

Amgen: The State obtained $1.57 million as a result of its participation in a multi-state settlement with pharmaceutical manufacturer Amgen that resolved allegations the company unlawfully promoted two of its drugs – Aranesp and Enbrel – for uses not approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration. Among other things, Amgen was accused of promoting Aranesp for off-label use in treating patients with anemia caused by cancer, despite clinical evidence that failed to support such a use. Amgen also was accused of overstating the effectiveness of its drug Enbrel for treating certain types of psoriasis while understating the drug’s risks.

Stericycle, Inc.: New Jersey obtained approximately $589,000 as its portion of a multi-state settlement that resolved allegations Stericycle, Inc., an Illinois-based medical waste disposal company, committed federal and state False Claims Act violations by imposing unwarranted surcharges on government customers. In New Jersey, Stericycle has provided medical waste disposal services to such government entities as colleges, school districts, police departments, health departments, and correctional facilities.

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