BP shares up as legal fight is put on hold
BP SHARES were among the highest climbers on the FTSE 100 in early trading yesterday after the trial to decide who should pay for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill was delayed by a week.
The postponement gives BP more time to cut a deal with tens of thousands of businesses and individuals affected by the disaster.
Less than 24 hours before the case was set to start in a New Orleans federal court, the judge pushed back the date to 5 March.
The delay allows further talks between BP and the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee (PSC), which represents condominium owners, fishermen, hoteliers, restaurateurs and others who say their livelihoods were damaged by the 20 April 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and subsequent oil spill.
Eleven people were killed, and 4.9m barrels of oil spewed from the mile-deep Macondo oil well, in by far the worst offshore US oil spill.
“BP and the PSC are working to reach agreement to fairly compensate people and businesses affected by the Deepwater Horizon accident and oil spill,” BP said in a statement.
The oil major said there was no assurance that the talks would lead to a settlement. BP’s stock lifted 1.4 per cent after the announcement.
MEET THE LAWYERS
ANDREW LANGAN
KIRKLAND & ELLIS
HARVARD law graduate Andrew Langan of Kirkland & Ellis’ Chicago headquarters is heading up BP’s litigation team, alongside fellow Kirkland partner Richard Godfrey.
A regular feature in leading lawyer rankings, Langan is a class action specialist with 30 years of experience in the field, and has regularly represented major corporate clients in high-profile trials.
BP is also fielding lawyers from a roster of other leading US firms, including lead trial counsel Mike Brock of Covington & Burlington, and Washington firm WilmerHale defending against criminal claims.
The Plaintiffs Steering Committee is being represented by a 15-strong team of lawyers selected by federal judge Carl Barbier, who is hearing the case in New Orleans. They include high-profile California litigation lawyer Elisabeth Cabraser, who also represented plaintiffs following the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989.