Plaintiffs' Steering Committee Appointed in BP Oil Spill Litigation; Professor McGovern Appointed Special Master

Judge Barbier has appointed fifteen lawyers to the plaintiffs' steering committee ("PSC") in In re Oil Spill:  Brian H. Barr, Jeffrey A. Breit, Elizabeth J. Cabraser, Philip F. Cossich, Jr., Robert T. Cunningham, Alphonso Michael Espy, Calvin C. Fayard, Jr., Robin L. Greenwald, Ervin A. Gonzalez, Rhon E. Jones, Matthew E. Lundy, Michael C. Palmintier, Paul M. Sterbcow, Scott Summy, and Mikal C. Watts.  In addition, four lawyers were appointed to the Plaintiffs' Executive Committee:  James Roy and Russ Herman, Brian Barr and Scott Summy.   Fox 10 News lists the lawyer's office affiliations.

Interestingly, of the seventeen lawyers, only two - Cabraser and Watts - were noted on Mark Behren's Top Plaintiffs' Lawyers List.  

As is typical, the Judge's order provides no reason for his selection of these seventeen lawyers from the 112 applicants.  And, as is also typical, the Judge's order vests the PSC with complete control over the course of the litigation.   According to the Judge's order, the PSC will conduct all pretrial discovery, appear as counsel at all pretrial hearings, submit and oppose all motions, and explore settlement, among other things.   

Finally, following up on last week's note in the Roundup, Judge Barbier did, in fact, appoint Professor McGovern as a special master in the MDL.

- SBS