Bloomberg
About 200 attorneys suing BP Plc over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill met in a New Orleans hotel to devise a strategy for resolving virtually all spill litigation within three months, a lawyer said.
Daniel Becnel, the lawyer who called the meeting, has asked a federal judicial panel in Washington to combine thousands of claims by commercial fishermen, shrimpers, property owners, seafood processors and tourism-related businesses into a single multidistrict case before one judge in New Orleans. That could keep the lawsuits from dragging on for years and would get badly needed cash into victims’ hands, Becnel said.
“We’re not going to have a long march to trial,” Becnel said yesterday in an interview before the meeting. “This could all be over in 90 days.”
Becnel represents hundreds of individuals and businesses claiming damages from the oil slick created by the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which burned and sank about 40 miles off the Louisiana coast.
More than 70 lawsuits, almost all class action lawsuits potentially involving thousands of claims, have been filed against BP, which owned the offshore lease where the damaged well is now gushing at least 5,000 barrels of oil a day.
Defendant Companies
Also named as defendants in most of the suits are: Transocean Ltd., which owned the rig; Cameron International Corp., which supplied the blowout prevention equipment on the well; and Halliburton Energy Services Inc., which was providing cementing services to the well. None of the companies has accepted liability for the accident. BP Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward has said the company will clean up the oil and pay “all legitimate claims.”
David Nicholas, a BP spokesman, said in an e-mail yesterday that the company doesn’t comment on litigation or potential litigation.
Becnel asked the judicial panel to expedite his request to combine the cases before one of three New Orleans judges, all of whom have experience with multidistrict litigation.
Brent Coon, a lawyer from Houston, described the meeting, held behind closed doors, as productive.
“Whenever lawyers get together to cooperate, the clients benefit,” he said in an interview after the meeting.
Becnel previously advocated combining lawsuits over Merck & Co.’s Vioxx painkiller as well suits by homeowners over toxic drywall made in China. Both of those combined cases are being handled by federal judges in Louisiana.
If the spill cases are combined, Becnel said he will immediately ask the judge for summary judgment in favor of damaged businesses and property owners.
“At that stage, what in the hell do I have to prove, because my clients were clearly damaged by the spill,” Becnel said.
The MDL request was made in Acy J. Cooper Jr. v. BP Plc, 2:10-cv-01229, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana (New Orleans).
Daniel Becnel, the lawyer who called the meeting, has asked a federal judicial panel in Washington to combine thousands of claims by commercial fishermen, shrimpers, property owners, seafood processors and tourism-related businesses into a single multidistrict case before one judge in New Orleans. That could keep the lawsuits from dragging on for years and would get badly needed cash into victims’ hands, Becnel said.
“We’re not going to have a long march to trial,” Becnel said yesterday in an interview before the meeting. “This could all be over in 90 days.”
Becnel represents hundreds of individuals and businesses claiming damages from the oil slick created by the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which burned and sank about 40 miles off the Louisiana coast.
More than 70 lawsuits, almost all class action lawsuits potentially involving thousands of claims, have been filed against BP, which owned the offshore lease where the damaged well is now gushing at least 5,000 barrels of oil a day.
Defendant Companies
Also named as defendants in most of the suits are: Transocean Ltd., which owned the rig; Cameron International Corp., which supplied the blowout prevention equipment on the well; and Halliburton Energy Services Inc., which was providing cementing services to the well. None of the companies has accepted liability for the accident. BP Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward has said the company will clean up the oil and pay “all legitimate claims.”
David Nicholas, a BP spokesman, said in an e-mail yesterday that the company doesn’t comment on litigation or potential litigation.
Becnel asked the judicial panel to expedite his request to combine the cases before one of three New Orleans judges, all of whom have experience with multidistrict litigation.
Brent Coon, a lawyer from Houston, described the meeting, held behind closed doors, as productive.
“Whenever lawyers get together to cooperate, the clients benefit,” he said in an interview after the meeting.
Becnel previously advocated combining lawsuits over Merck & Co.’s Vioxx painkiller as well suits by homeowners over toxic drywall made in China. Both of those combined cases are being handled by federal judges in Louisiana.
If the spill cases are combined, Becnel said he will immediately ask the judge for summary judgment in favor of damaged businesses and property owners.
“At that stage, what in the hell do I have to prove, because my clients were clearly damaged by the spill,” Becnel said.
The MDL request was made in Acy J. Cooper Jr. v. BP Plc, 2:10-cv-01229, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana (New Orleans).
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