Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell announced late Tuesday that a panel of federal judges has ruled that lawsuits related to the BP Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill should be consolidated and transferred to federal court in New Orleans. Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell announced late Tuesday that a panel of federal judges has ruled that lawsuits related to the BP Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill should be consolidated and transferred to federal court in New Orleans.
"It is refreshing to see the court make such a ruling totally fairly and correctly, centralizing the cases to truly serve the convenience of the parties and witnesses and promoting the just and efficient conduct of those cases for those most impacted by them," the AG says in a press release.
Caldwell filed briefs before the panel in Boise, Idaho, in late July, assigning special counsel Allan Kanner of New Orleans to argue that "the impacts from this catastrophe are, and will continue to be, most keenly felt by Louisiana's citizens, including the families of those Louisiana offshore workers who lost their lives in the explosion; those who were injured; the fishermen and their families who depend on Louisiana's natural resources for a living; the citizens who live and work along the Louisiana coastline, which is already fragile and disappearing at alarming rates."
The lawsuits include personal injury and wrongful death suits related to the explosion, 1990 Oil Pollution Act cases and claims against BP, and the limitation of liability action filed by Transocean. The consolidated case has been assigned to federal Judge Carl J. Barbier.