Judge Refuses to Delay Oil Spill Lawsuit Against BP (Update2)
By Laurel Brubaker Calkins
May 26 (Bloomberg) -- An Alabama federal judge denied BP Plc’s request to stay one of more than 130 lawsuits brought by fishermen, property owners and coastal businesses harmed by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill until a judicial panel decides whether to combine the cases into a single multidistrict proceeding.
In an order handed down late yesterday, Chief U.S. District Judge William H. Steele of Alabama called BP’s request to halt the litigation “premature.”
“There is no reason why this action cannot move forward with preliminary steps” before the judicial panel acts on BP’s request to combine all oil spill litigation into one massive case at a hearing in July, Steele said.
“Entering a stay at this juncture and under these circumstances would not rescue defendants from material hardship or the risk of inconsistent adjudications, after all, they must answer the complaint anyway,” Steele ruled.
BP has filed motions in courts across five Gulf Coast states seeking to stay litigation resulting from the growing oil spill, caused by the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon off the coast of Louisiana last month. BP, as owner of the offshore lease where the damaged well is located, has primary responsibility for claims from people and businesses harmed by the drifting oil.
Gushing Oil
“Judge Steele apparently didn’t want BP to get a free, three-month delay before it had to answer these complaints,” lawyer George R. Irvine III of Daphne, Alabama, said in a phone interview today. “Judge Steele didn’t believe that it was fair for BP to do nothing while the oil continues to gush.”
Steele ordered BP to answer the Alabama lawsuit, a proposed class action by a seafood processor, by July 2. Once BP responds to the lawsuit and the parties hold a status conference, Irvine said he plans to begin gathering evidence from BP immediately.
“I can start discovery as soon as that conference occurs and we establish a schedule,” Irvine said. “I believe this is the only case so far where BP’s stay has been denied flat out. I suspect there will be others coming along. Hopefully other judges across the Gulf Coast will think this opinion is well- reasoned and follow it.”
Irving said he expects the judge to deny BP’s stay request in the other cases within short order.
Also named as a defendant in most of the oil spill cases are: Transocean Ltd., which owned the rig; Halliburton Energy Services Inc., which provided cementing services; and Cameron International Corp., which supplied blowout prevention equipment.
Neither Scott Dean nor Mark Salt, BP spokesmen, immediately responded to a request for comment on the judge’s order. Mike Geczi, Transocean’s spokesman, declined to comment.
The case is Billy’s Seafood Inc. v. Transocean et al, 1:10- cv-00215, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Alabama.
To contact the reporter on this story: Laurel Brubaker Calkins in Houston at laurel@calkins.us.com.
Last Updated: May 26, 2010 12:30 EDT |
