Lawyers have been licking their chops from the moment the Volkswagen A.G. emissions cheating scandal broke last week. The plaintiffs bar has already leapt into action with class actions filed in the U.S. and Canada, and the Department of Justice, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state attorneys general are all girding for litigation as well.
As for which firms are likely to be be busiest on the defense side, one clue was right in the EPA notice of violation revealing the investigation on Friday. Copied along with various Volkswagen executives was Kirkland & Ellis partner Stuart Drake, an environmental defense specialist based in Washington, D.C., whose automotive industry clients have included General Motors Co. and Toyota Motor Corp.
