The 19th century maritime law that Transocean Ltd. cited in filing a lawsuit to limit its liability in the April 20 explosion of its Deepwater Horizon rig could also give the companies involved in the disaster an edge to move all the litigation surrounding the incident to Texas.
On May 13, Transocean filed a proceeding in Houston under an outmoded 1851 law known as the Limitation of Shipowner's Liability Act to limit its legal exposure to $26.8 million, or the value of the sunken rig and whatever freight it was carrying. The limitation of liability act also allows a vessel owner to consolidate all litigation over a shipping accident to a venue of its choosing, and like a bankruptcy filing, halts all proceedings in other courts.
In maritime law, a rig is considered a vessel. Attorneys say it's an uphill battle for vessel owners to successfully limit their liability in a such a proceeding, so the primary reason for filing may be to nudge the massive litigation that is expected over the rig explosion and oil leak to Houston.
"I think there was a considered thought process on behalf of BP and Transocean to hometown the litigation and do anything that they could do to get the litigation in Houston and out of Louisiana," said Scott Bickford, who filed the first lawsuit the day after the explosion in federal court in New Orleans on behalf of the family of a worker who was killed. "Why is this thing in Texas other than the fact that the wrong-doers are there? This is a terrible situation.
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The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation will meet in Boise, Idaho, on July 29 to consider arguments from both sides about where the proceedings should be held, and is expected to make a decision within a few weeks of the gathering.
But as Transocean's proceeding moves forward in Houston to determine whether the company is eligible limit its liability, all depositions and discovery of facts will take place within the context of that suit. As work on the Transocean case proceeds in Houston, it could preempt the work of the panel of federal judges or help make the case that Houston has already become the nucleus of the litigation.
******"The center of the entire litigation will move away from Louisiana to a state that has absolutely no damage. The legal implications are you get Texas justice for Louisiana," Bickford said.******
In Houston, Judge Keith Ellison has already stayed all legal proceedings involving Transocean because of Tranocean's suit. On Tuesday morning, Ellison will hold a status conference to clarify issues related to the stays and to set a date for a hearing on motions filed by Bickford to dismiss the limitation of liability proceeding or move it to Louisiana. Attorneys representing fishers and the Louisiana Environmental Action Network have made similar requests.
There's much more:
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/05/legal_maneuvering_may_situate.htmlThis is a travesty and a mockery of justice. This is how and why BP and others will try to evade a lot of monetary damages, and they might get away with it. If Congress has to act to overrule this, the Republicans will block it.
I was watching after the first move with the injunction by Judge Ellison. The other shoe has dropped. They also probably have more shoes than Imelds Marcos to use.