When the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded on April 20, 2010, few people could conceive the magnitude of personal injury and economic and property damage in the states bordering the Gulf of Mexico that would result from the three-month spill of 4.9 million barrels of oil. Under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, a party responsible for the discharge of oil from a vessel or facility “into or upon the navigable waters [and] adjoining shorelines” is liable for the removal costs and damages resulting from the discharge. A number of BP PLC entities, along with Transocean Ltd., which operated the rig, and Halliburton Co., which was tasked with stopping the oil spill, were sued for Deepwater’s damages under the act. In re Oil Spill by the Oil Rig “Deepwater Horizon” in the Gulf of Mexico, MDL No. 2179, No. 10-me-2179 (E.D. La.).
On August 10, 2010, to eliminate duplicative discovery and prevent inconsistent pretrial rulings, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consolidated 77 actions pending in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas before Judge Carl Barbier in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Barbier chose 15 attorneys to form the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee. Kirkland & Ellis partners Richard Godfrey and J. Andrew Langan, and Robert Brock, a partner at Covington & Burling, lead the defense team, which offered “no comment” for this report.
