Phillip Thomas, the blogging attorney of the Mississippi Litigation Review (MLR) has two excellent posts up on the BP oil spill litigation. MLR is linked to SLABBED under Law Blogs in the right sidebar; and, if you visit there you will find Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee for BP Oil Spill MDL Dominated by Lawyers from Large Firms and BP Oil Spill Update: It’s a Gusher for Feinberg Rozen as Plaintiff Lawyers Head for the Exits
Thomas’ post on the Steering Committee links Judge Barbier’s Order that names the members of the Steering Committee: Brian H. Barr, Jeffrey A. Breit, Elizabeth J. Cabraser,Philip F. Cossich, Jr., Robert T. Cunningham, Alphonso Michael Espy, Calvin C. Fayard, Jr., Robin L. Greenwald, Ervin A. Gonzalez, Rhon E. Jones, Matthew E. Lundy, Michael C. Palmintier, Paul M. Sterbcow, Scott Summy, and Mikal C. Watts:
Want to be on an exclusive MDL plaintiffs’ steering committee? Then you need to be an attorney in a large plaintiffs firm—the type that generally does not exist in Mississippi. That’s my take away from reviewing the list of attorneys on the Plaintiffs’ steering committee in the BP Oil Spill MDL.
Here is Judge Barbier’s Order rendered Friday with the names of the fifteen lawyers on the plaintiffs’ steering committee. Most of the lawyers appointed to the committee practice with large plaintiff firms. The even more exclusive executive committee is composed of four lawyers: James Roy, Russ Herman, Brian Barr and Scott Summy.
My interpretation of the Order is that the steering committee will run the entire litigation. Lawyers who represent victims—but who are not on the steering committee—appear to be getting squeezed out of the litigation.
The only Mississippi lawyer on the steering committee is Continue reading “Latest on BP oil spill litigation – the Mississippi Litigation Review reports”