BP trial in Gulf of Mexico oil spill set to begin

With settlement talks grinding on, the trial of BP over its culpability for the massive 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico looks set to begin Monday in a New Orleans courtroom ? and two nearby overflow rooms ? packed with lawyers, public relations specialists, reporters and other observers.

District Court Judge Carl Barbier, a former plaintiffs? lawyer in maritime accident cases, has allotted a total of 6 hours 40 minutes for 11 opening statements from private plaintiffs, the Justice Department, Gulf Coast states and corporate defendants. More than 300 depositions and 72?million pages of documents have been produced, according to one lawyer involved in the case. Legal fees alone will eventually run well into the billions of dollars.

?I?ll be down there, and I?m sure other folks will be down there, as well,? said Val Exnicios, a lawyer representing an association of shrimpers and oystermen. Other plaintiffs include hotels, vacation-home owners, fishermen and coastal business owners. ?I?m sure it will be a very crowded affair,? Exnicios said.

Lawyers involved in the case said settlement talks were continuing through the weekend. Unlike Exxon, which spent two decades fighting damage claims over the 1989 Exxon Valdez tanker spill in Alaska, BP has been eager to put to rest the entire affair surrounding its ill-fated Macondo exploration well. But while opposing sides often reach agreement on the eve of trials, lawyers familiar with the case said the trial would probably move ahead. ?The parties remain significantly far apart,? said one of the lawyers, on the condition of anonymity because negotiations are ongoing.

Firm numbers were hard to come by, but some sources said that the private plaintiffs group and the Justice Department were each seeking more than $25?billion in civil claims. If the Justice Department decides to file criminal charges, that would be a separate trial.

Possible outcomes

Any settlement by the Justice Department could have political impact if voters see it as not large enough given the size of the spill and of BP, still one of the world?s biggest oil giants. The associate attorney general in charge of negotiations, Thomas J. Perrelli, also oversaw talks that led to the recent $26?billion foreclosure abuse settlement with major banks. Perrelli, a law school acquaintance of President Obama, is leaving the department March?9 after three years as its No. 3 official.

If the trial moves ahead, lawyers for the plaintiffs? steering committee and the Justice Department are expected to attack BP and rig owner Transocean, saying that their gross negligence and willful misconduct led to the blowout on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which caught fire and sank April 20, 2010, killing 11 people and eventually spilling as much as 4.9?million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

If found guilty of gross negligence, BP and Transocean could have to pay $4,300 a barrel instead of $1,100 a barrel in federal fines under the Clean Water Act and Oil Pollution Act for oil that was not recaptured. (Under one scenario, BP pays $3.5?billion. Worst case: roughly $17?billion.) A gross negligence finding would also hurt BP?s case against private plaintiffs and affect criminal charges the Justice Department is weighing against the company and several individuals.

Source: http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=6e6da5306d36778f3c2369a9738fd1d2

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