Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee

Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee

This was the first amicus brief we filed in the U.S. Supreme Court, helping win a 5-to-4 decision in Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee that the nuclear power company’s compliance with federal regulations does not preempt – i.e., wipe out – punitive damages claims against it for Karen Silkwood’s plutonium contamination and death. Our Silkwood brief was filed in 1983. We have been actively involved in preemption cases before the Supreme Court ever since.