STUART H SMITH

Stuart H. Smith is an attorney based in New Orleans fighting major oil companies and other polluters... Most lawyers would be intimidated by taking on the world's most powerful and secretive company, the giant Exxon-Mobil Corporation. But Stuart H. Smith isn't like most attorneys. With his expert knowledge about the kind of radioactive pollution caused by oil-and-natural-gas production, Smith knew how to show before a jury how the global oil giant had for years systematically dumped radioactive pipe - and in the process poisoned its unknowing blue-collar workforce - on one man's property just outside Smith native city, New Orleans. And he and his partners made an audacious request: That the jury come back with a 10-digit verdict against Exxon-Mobil. But after hearing the case, Smith's team indeed won a $1.056 billion judgment. Although later reduced somewhat by an appeals judge, it remains a record penalty for this type of case.

Also known as: Stuart H Smith, LLC

Primary location: New Orleans United States