ROBERT T. CUNNINGHAM APPOINTED TO SERVE ON PLAINTIFFS' STEERING COMMITTEE IN OIL SPILL LITIGATION
Oct 9, 2010
Mobile, Ala. – Robert T. Cunningham, a senior partner at Cunningham
Bounds, LLC, was one of only fifteen attorneys chosen by Judge Carl J.
Barbier to serve on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee (PSC), which
will manage, direct, and control all of the cases filed against BP and
other defendants related to the April 20, 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Over one hundred attorneys from across the United States applied to serve
on the committee.
Hundreds of cases against BP and other defendants have been filed by scores
of attorneys in courts throughout the United States. These cases include
claims for wrongful death, personal injury, property damage, loss of income,
environmental degradation, and loss of tax revenue. Typically, when this
many cases are filed against the same defendants and all of the cases
arise from the same incident, the court system consolidates the cases
through a process called "multi-district litigation," or MDL.
The oil spill litigation has been consolidated in New Orleans before Judge
Carl J. Barbier as MDL 2179. Because there are so many individual plaintiffs,
Judge Barbier appointed a committee of key attorneys who are now responsible
for the management and control of the litigation on behalf of all of the
plaintiffs.
Membership on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee comes with important
responsibilities. Mr. Cunningham will work with the other fourteen appointees
to: (1) initiate and conduct all pretrial discovery on behalf of the plaintiffs;
(2) prepare and file all motions and subpoenas related to testimony of
witnesses and production of documents; (3) select the trial team that
will participate in the first trials in these cases; (4) submit and argue
motions to the Court; (5) and establish and maintain a comprehensive document
depository, among other things.
“I am humbled to have been selected as a member of the Plaintiffs’
Steering Committee. I am grateful for this unique opportunity to help
those who have suffered so terribly as a result of the oil spill. I understand
the magnitude of the responsibility that I now have and I will do everything
possible to ensure the best outcome on behalf of all the plaintiffs in
this litigation,” said Mr. Cunningham.
Mr. Cunningham is the only attorney from the Alabama Gulf Coast who was
selected to serve on the PSC.