Andrew Sacks

Andrew Sacks is the managing partner of the Philadelphia law firm Sacks Weston Diamond, LLC. Best known for litigating against companies that damage the environment or injure people, Sacks successfully helped secure a $1.06 billion verdict against ExxonMobil in 2001. The company was found guilty of polluting land with radioactive material and the case is the largest private landowner contamination case in U.S. history.

After earning his Juris Doctor degree from Dickinson School of Law in 1984, Sacks officially began his legal career with a focus on personal injury. His talent for administration was quickly recognized and Sacks started managing numerous legal service plans for large labor unions, one of which was Lodge 5 of the Fraternal Order of Police. In total, Sacks oversaw a membership of more than 50,000 union members and their families.

While the firm continued to take on personal injury, medical malpractice, and maritime cases, the doors were also opened to plaintiffs in need of toxic tort and environmental contamination litigation representation.

In addition to the new practice areas, a satellite firm was established in New Orleans, LA. This enabled the firm to better serve clients whose land had been contaminated in Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Kentucky. As a pioneer in N.O.R.M. litigation, the firm’s efforts resulted in the largest single-landowner verdict in the country’s history. Sacks then went on to help settle a tobacco case for $1.25 billion dollars and to help settle three cases in excess of $200 million with one at $50 million. Sacks Weston Diamond, LLC continues to handle complex litigation and other environmental and toxic tort matters. Later in his career, Sacks went on to represent corporate and governmental clients from Europe, Asia and South America in U.S. courts on matters including antitrust and RICO claims.

Sacks is admitted to practice in all Pennsylvania state courts, along with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Third and Sixth Circuits. He is one of the few attorneys in the nation to have handled two cases where the results exceeded $1 billion. In 2015, he was admitted to the Billion Dollar Lawyers Association, a select group of attorneys and law firms with a history of recovering $1 billion or more in single or cumulative verdicts and settlements.

Sacks received his BA from Grinnell College and his Juris Doctor from the Dickinson School of Law.

ExxonMobil

Sacks was a participating attorney in the landmark verdict against ExxonMobil in 2001. A jury awarded his client $1.06 billion in damages for land polluted with radioactive material. The case is the largest private landowner contamination case in United States history.

Philip Morris

Sacks and legal partner John Weston were counsel in a case representing the Departments and Central Government of Colombia, which resulted in a $200 million settlement from Philip Morris.

Ashland Oil

Sacks was counsel in a case in which Ashland Oil paid $14 million to settle more than 5,000 third-party claims as well as damages, expenses, and cost of the settlement. The settlement included $11 million for cleanup, $5.25 million in legal and administrative fees to handle class-action suits, and $2.25 million in criminal fines paid for violations of the Federal Clean Water Act.

Sacks has three children and is a member of the board of directors of the Philadelphia Tri-State Chapter of the Lupus Foundation of America.