Mississippi Environmental Litigation Attorney Writes a Primer on BP's Gulf Oil Disaster Litigation

JACKSON, Miss., Oct. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Facing already over 300 civil lawsuits in at least 12 states, oil giant BP begins now to move from a crisis response in the Gulf to a response in the courtroom.

BP has dedicated billions of dollars to an escrow account in an effort to settle legitimate lawsuits rather than have them litigated in court.

Jackson attorney Jeff Reynolds, who recently had a guest editorial published in The Clarion-Ledger, Mississippi's biggest newspaper, said he does not foresee litigation concerning the Deepwater Horizon explosion persisting as it did with the Exxon Valdez spill.

"BP has already demonstrated a willingness to compensate legitimate claim holders by contributing $20 billion to an escrow account and entrusting the fund's facilitation to an independent third party," Reynolds wrote.

Reynolds discussed the high-stakes decision as to the location of the court where the unsettled federal lawsuits would be consolidated for all pre-trial and discovery proceedings: "It always seemed likely to be New Orleans, despite defense attorneys' desire for Houston."

True to Mr. Reynolds' prediction in his The Clarion-Ledger piece, the MDL panel issued its Order on August 10, 2010, transferring all cases to the Eastern District of Louisiana to be heard by Judge Carl Barbier. This Order consolidates all of the civil lawsuits surrounding the Gulf spill for coordinated pretrial proceedings.

Reynolds is a litigator in Jackson and has represented oil and gas companies including BP, ExxonMobil, Murphy Oil, and others in many different types of lawsuits. Reynolds has appeared on television news in California and is a regular guest on Mississippi talk radio discussing the ongoing litigation that arose from the Deepwater Horizon explosion.

Resource: http://jprpa.com/img/pdf/Article2s.pdf

Jeffery P. Reynolds P.A. - http://www.jprpa.com

Media Contact: Bob O'Connor; 901.553.1255, [email protected]

This press release was issued through eReleases(R).  For more information, visit eReleases Press Release Distribution at http://www.ereleases.com.

SOURCE Jeffery P. Reynolds P.A.