OIL SUITS FLOW, BUT TROY KING URGES PRAYER (MOBILE PRESS-REGISTER)
May 1, 2010
By Brendan Kirby in Mobile Press-Register
MOBILE, Ala. -- The flow of lawsuits has begun, but Alabama's top
lawyer suggested Friday that they may be premature.
Attorney General Troy King will meet with his counterparts from four other
Gulf Coast states in Mobile on Sunday to discuss plans to hold BP accountable
for the costs of last week's drilling rig explosion that has caused
an ever-growing oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico.
In the meantime, King said in a prepared statement, attorneys should refrain
from rushing to court.
Alabama oil lawsuits
Here is a list of plaintiffs and who they seek to represent in class-action
lawsuits filed in Mobile this week:
· Anchor Realty (as of Friday afternoon, a civil complaint was
not yet available).
· Bon Secour Fisheries, on behalf of all Alabama residents who
own or lease residential or commercial property that has been or will
be affected by the spill.
· Peter Burke, on behalf of people and businesses who have suffered
or will suffer damages.
· Fishtrap Charters, Action Outdoors, TNT LLC and Jon Ingram, on
behalf of charter boat owners, captains and deck hands.
· Fort Morgan Sales, Rental & Development, Prickett Properties
and Margaritaville LLC, on behalf of real estate owners, rental managers
and rental agents along the Alabama coast.
· James F. Mason Jr., on behalf commercial fishermen.
· George C. Simpson, on behalf of owners of rental properties within
10 miles of the Gulf Coast in Alabama.
· Jud and Sherri Smith, LP Properties, Ben McLeod, Ben-Rip-J Inc.,
Harry Barnes and Necessity Fishing, on behalf of all Alabama residents
who live or work in or derive income from the coastal zone.
· Shannon Trahan and Dr. John Gonzales, on behalf of property owners
and residents who live in, work in or derive income from the Alabama coastal zone.
· Billy Wilkerson, Tessa Wilkerson, T&E Seafood Inc., Jubilee
Seafood Inc., Malay Inc., Country Inc. and Deep Sea Foods Inc., on behalf
of fishermen, oystermen, crabbers, shrimpers and seafood processors.
"This is not a time for class-action lawsuits and profit taking,"
he said in a statement. "This is a time of preparedness and prayer."
That has not stopped some of the state's most prominent lawyers from
filing lawsuits. As of Friday afternoon, 10 separate class-action suits
had been filed in Mobile's federal court alone against BP Plc and
other companies involved with the Deepwater Horizon.
"We've dealt with oil companies," said famed Alabama trial
lawyer Jere Beasley, who represents Bon Secour Fisheries. "If anybody
believes BP is going to adequately compensate people for this, they're
going to be in for a rude awakening."
BP said Friday that it is responsible and that it will compensate those impacted.
"We are taking full responsibility for the spill and we will clean
it up and where people can present legitimate claims for damages we will
honor them," BP Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward told Reuters.
"We are going to be very, very aggressive in all of that."
The Bon Secour Fisheries suit seeks to represent everyone in Alabama who
owns or leases residential or commercial property that is threatened by
the oil slick.
Prominent Mobile law firm Cunningham Bounds has filed three separate class-action
suits in Mobile and two more in Florida. The suits seek to represent charter
boat owners and captains, real estate owners, rental managers and agents,
and commercial fishermen.
"It's just a potential disaster with ripple effects like a stone
in a lake," said attorney Robert Cunningham.
Cunningham said it is too early guess at the economic impact from the
accident or BP's capacity to make everyone whole.
"That all remains to be seen," he said. "Fortunately, they
are a multibillion-dollar corporation."
All of the lawsuits target the same companies: BP Plc; Transocean Ltd.,
which owned the drilling rig; Halliburton Energy Services, whose employees
were working on the platform; and Cameron International Corp., which manufactured
the blowout preventer that is designed to shut off the oil flow.
Representatives from those companies have declined to comment on pending
litigation.
Halliburton officials told the Associated Press, however, that company
workers had completed a cementing operation 20 hours before the rig exploded.
A number of lawsuits have alleged that the operation contributed to the accident.
Lawyers involved in the litigation said it is likely that all of the class-action
lawsuits will be consolidated and assigned to a single federal judge in
one of the affected states. If the cases were to go to trial, they could
be sent back to the original jurisdiction.
Of course, they may never get to a jury.
"Quite often, they settle," Beasley said.