Mike Gladstone to Speak on Uranium Mining Case at IADC Regional Virtual Meeting

Mike Gladstone, civil litigation attorney and member of the McCandlish Holton trial team that successfully represented the Office of the Attorney General of Virginia in Wise County Circuit Court on behalf of the Commonwealth in defense of the moratorium on uranium mining, will present ‘‘RIP: A Very Short History of Virginia’s Uranium Litigation from Richmond, Virginia’’ at the IADC Mid-Atlantic Virtual Regional Meeting held in Richmond, Virginia on October 28, 2021.

Mike’s talk will cover:

• A background on Virginia’s temporary moratorium, in place since 1982;
• Circumstances that led to litigation in the early 2010’s that led all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court state-law pre-emption claim; and, 
• The recent outcome of litigation that began in 2015.

Over the course of a four-day trial in Wise County Circuit Court in July of 2020, McCandlish Holton, PC Directors Cameron Beck and Michael Gladstone obtained a significant and noteworthy trial outcome on behalf of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the matter of Virginia Uranium Inc., et al, v. Commonwealth of Virginia, et al. The trial court upheld Virginia’s uranium mining moratorium against claims made by VUI that the moratorium amounted to constitutional damages or takings of private land at Coles Hill on the Smith River in Pittsylvania County.

Mike Glastone has broad litigation experience including matters involving personal injury and property damage, insurance and coverage, commercial matters, trucking, professional liability, product liability, immigration/removal, and worksite enforcement. He has successfully defended design professionals in construction defect matters. His product liability experience includes a focus on industrial machinery, warnings and labels, product development and introduction, and associated commercial issues. He obtained the first post-Kumho Tire exclusion of an Accident Reconstruction Expert in a trucking matter.  Mike has successfully defended and asserted trade secret claims in State and Federal Courts.