Deepwater Horizon litigation

Deepwater Horizon litigation

Litigation due to the loss of the Deepwater Horizon and resulting oil spill commenced shortly after the initial loss of the rig in April 2010.

A large number of claims and class actions have already been filed, although many claims are expected to be met administratively from the fund set up for that purpose under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, which allows claims to be filed administratively and contemplates their settlement within 90 days.[1]

Contents

Litigation history

By May 27, 2010, 5 weeks after the initial incident, Transocean reported to the United States Congress that:

"Of the approximately 120 lawsuits, more than 80 filed against Transocean are class actions in which individuals and businesses seek payment for financial losses covered by the Oil Spill Pollution Act. Generally, the claimants in these lawsuits are fishermen, hotel operators, landowners, rental companies, restaurants and seafood processors, who claim a current or potential future loss of business in the aftermath of the oil spill. Many of these 80 lawsuits overlap, with lawyers seeking to represent the same classes of people." [1]

At the same time UK media reported that over 130 lawsuits relating to the spill had been filed[2] against one or more of BP, Transocean, Cameron International, and Halliburton Energy Services,[3] although it is considered likely by observers that these will be combined into one court as a multidistrict litigation.[3] Because the spill has been largely lingering offshore, the plaintiffs who can claim damages so far are mostly out-of-work fishermen and tourist resorts that are receiving cancellations.[4] BP and Transocean want the cases to be heard in Houston, seen as friendly to the oil business. Plaintiffs have variously requested the case be heard in Louisiana, Mississippi or Florida.[4] Five New Orleans judges have recused themselves from hearing oil spill cases because of stock ownership in companies involved or other conflicts of interest.[5] BP has retained law firm Kirkland & Ellis to defend most of the lawsuits arising from the oil spill.[6]

BP, which largely self-insures through its own Jupiter Insurance Ltd, was also the subject of early litigation from multiple Lloyd's of London underwriting syndicates and other underwriters seeking a declaration that they were not liable to BP under Transocean's US $700 million insurance policy.[2][7]

On 16 July, news reports claimed that BP has been attempting to hire prominent scientists from public universities around the Gulf Coast to aid its defense against the lawsuit that the federal government will bring as a result of the spill. BP attempted to hire the entire marine sciences department at one university, but the university declined because of confidentiality restrictions, however several other universities have accepted. In developing its case, the government will draw on the large amount of scientific research conducted by academic institutions along the Gulf, and many scientists being hired by BP serve at those same institutions. The contract prohibits the scientists from publishing their research, sharing it with other scientists or speaking about the data that they collect for at least the next three years, and it requires scientists to agree to withhold data even in the face of a court order if BP decides to fight the order. It stipulates that scientists will be paid only for research approved by BP. Robert Wiygul, who specializes in environmental law, said that he sees ethical questions regarding the use of publicly owned laboratories and research vessels to conduct confidential work on behalf of a private company. "This is not an agreement to do research for BP. This is an agreement to join BP's legal team. You agree to communicate with BP through their attorneys and to take orders from their attorneys." The contracts have the added impact of limiting the number of scientists who are able to work with federal agencies.[8]

Moratorium

Hornbeck Offshore Services, joined by several dozen corporations with offshore interests, has filed suit (Hornbeck Offshore Services LLC v. Salazar) in U.S. District Court seeking to enjoin the U.S. Department of the Interior from imposing a ban on deep water drilling.

References

  1. ^ a b Clingman, Rachel (2010-05-27). "Testimony Before The Committee on the Judiciary, United States House of Representatives: Liability Issues Surrounding the Gulf Coast Oil Disaster, May 27, 2010". http://www.judiciary.house.gov/hearings/pdf/Clingman100527.pdf. Retrieved 2010-06-17. 
  2. ^ a b Pagnamenta, Robin (2010-05-26). "Lloyd’s syndicates launch legal action over BP insurance claim". The Times. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article7136623.ece. Retrieved 2010-05-26. 
  3. ^ a b "BP, Transocean Lawsuits Surge as Oil Spill Spreads in Gulf". Bloomberg. 2010-05-01. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601072&sid=ax4MXMZVVp6w. Retrieved 2010-05-01. 
  4. ^ a b Mufson, Steven; Eilperin, Juliet (2010-05-17). "Lawyers lining up for class-action suits over oil spill". The Washington Post (The Washington Post Company): p. A1. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/16/AR2010051603254.html?sub=AR. Retrieved 2010-05-25. 
  5. ^ Calkins, Laurel; Feeley, Jef (2010-06-01). "Judges Quit BP Gulf Oil-Spill Lawsuits Over Conflicts (Update1)". Businessweek. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-06-01/judges-quit-bp-gulf-oil-spill-lawsuits-over-conflicts-update1-.html. Retrieved 2010-06-01. 
  6. ^ Sachdev, Ameet (2010-05-18). "Tide of oil spill lawsuits begins to rise". Chicago Tribune. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-05-18/business/ct-biz-0518-chicago-law--20100518_1_bp-plc-spill-lawsuits-oil-spill. Retrieved 2010-05-26. 
  7. ^ "Insurers reject BP claim on Transocean excess cover". Insurance Times. 2010-06-03. http://www.insurancetimes.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=384726. Retrieved 2010-06-18. 
  8. ^ http://blog.al.com/live/2010/07/bp_buys_up_gulf_scientists_for.html

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Deepwater Horizon — This article is about the drilling rig. For the explosion and oil spill, see Deepwater Horizon (disambiguation). Deepwater Horizon semi submersible drilling rig. Career …   Wikipedia

  • Deepwater Horizon oil spill — 2010 oil spill and BP oil spill redirect here. For other oil spills in 2010, see 2010 oil spill (disambiguation). For the 2006 oil spill involving BP, see Prudhoe Bay oil spill. For the drilling rig and explosion, see Deepwater Horizon… …   Wikipedia

  • Deepwater Horizon explosion — This article is about the explosion. For the drilling rig and oil spill, see Deepwater Horizon (disambiguation). Deepwater Horizon explosion Anchor handling tugs and platform supply vessels combat the fir …   Wikipedia

  • Economic and political consequences of the Deepwater Horizon disaster — This article is about the consequences of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. For the drilling rig, explosion and oil spill, see Deepwater Horizon (disambiguation). This article covers the effect of the Deepwater Horizon disaster and resulting oil… …   Wikipedia

  • National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling — The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling is a bipartisan presidential commission, established by Executive Order 13543 signed by Barack Obama on May 21, 2010, that is “tasked with providing… …   Wikipedia

  • Unified Command (Deepwater Horizon oil spill) — Thad Allen provides a briefing to the Unified Area Command in New Orleans on June 28, 2010. The Unified Command provides Incident Command System/Unified Command (ICS) for coordinating response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The organization… …   Wikipedia

  • 2010 United States deepwater drilling moratorium — On May 30, 2010 a 6 month moratorium on all deepwater offshore drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf was declared by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. The limitation was in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill which occurred in …   Wikipedia

  • Corporate litigation in the United Kingdom — is that part of UK company law which gives investors the right to sue the directors of a company, or vindicate another wrong to the company, particularly where the board of directors does not wish to act itself. Contents 1 History 1.1 The rule in …   Wikipedia

  • Halliburton — For other uses, see Haliburton (disambiguation). Halliburton Type Public Traded as NYSE:  …   Wikipedia

  • Transocean — Ltd. Type Publicly traded limited company (NYSE: RIG, SIX: RIGN …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”