Tuesday, June 08, 2010
Oil-Friendly Judge Lynn Hughes
If there’s one thing both sides of the more than 100 lawsuits filed as result of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill agree upon, it’s consolidation. Attorneys for the companies being sued—BP, Transocean Ltd. and Halliburton—and the hundreds of plaintiffs want all of the civil cases consolidated into one federal court. The question is which one, given the conflicts of interest so many judges have.
An analysis of financial disclosure forms by the Associated Press found 37 of the 64 active or senior judges in Gulf Coast states—Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida—have “links to oil, gas and related energy industries, including some who own stocks or bonds” in BP, Halliburton or Transocean. Still others regularly receive royalties from oil and gas production wells.
Some judges have taken action to avoid being accused of having conflicting interests. U.S. District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon in New Orleans instructed her court not to accept any cases involving BP, in which she owns stock. Another New Orleans justice, U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier, has decided to sell his oil and gas investments, including those in Transocean and Halliburton, in order to preside over the 20 spill-related lawsuits filed with his court.
Barbier is considered a candidate for overseeing all of the gulf spill cases, although the companies would prefer that someone from Texas be selected.
A federal judicial panel may decide in July whether to consolidate the cases and, if so, which judge to give this task.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Polluted Justice: Many Gulf Federal Judges Have Oil Links (by Curt Anderson, Associated Press)
BP Pushes for Oil Industry-Friendly Judge to Handle Lawsuits (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
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