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BP Exec Defends Safety Record in Combative Trial Testimony

An executive with oil giant BP steadfastly defended the company’s commitment to safety while testifying today in the civil trial over the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill. BP’s Neil Shaw delivered testimony that grew...more

Exec Insists Safety Came First Before BP Oil Spill

An executive for oil giant BP testified today that he personally worked to improve the company’s safety culture in the years leading up to the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion that killed 11 workers and dumped millions of...more

BP Could Have Stopped Gulf Oil Spill on Day 2, Says Expert

Oil giant BP could have stopped the massive 2010 oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico just two days after the blowout aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, an expert witness testified today in the civil trial over the spill....more

Judge Shoots Down BP’s Request to Drop Gross Negligence Charge

As soon as plaintiffs’ attorneys in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill trial called their last witness, an attorney for BP asked U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier to dismiss charges that the oil giant committed “gross...more

Expert Testifies Deepwater Horizon ‘Not Seaworthy’

Wrapping up the third week of testimony in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill trial, marine engineering expert Edward Geoffrey Webster testified that the rig was out of compliance with international and federal safety...more

Deepwater Horizon Worker Missed Critical Blowout Warning

A Halliburton employee who survived the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion testified today that he failed to act upon signals that the Macondo well was unstable, but doesn’t believe he did anything wrong....more

Halliburton Cement in Doomed Oil Well Failed Stability Tests

An executive with oil services contractor Halliburton testified today that it would have required “perfect conditions” for his company’s cement formula to have properly set in the Macondo oil well, site of the 2010 Deepwater...more

Catches Down & Prices Up Two Years After BP Oil Spill

There are always fluctuations in catches, often exaggerated by fishers as they exchange tall tales. Two years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Louisiana crab and shrimpers are complaining about dire drops in yields. But...more

Halliburton Accused of Destroying Evidence in Oil Spill Trial

A Halliburton executive was questioned today over allegations that his company destroyed evidence related to the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion of 2010, but insisted he was not personally involved in any coverup....more

Expert Witnesses Harpoon BP, Transocean, Halliburton

Two expert witnesses testified today in the civil trial against oil company BP and its contractors, Transocean and Halliburton, listing the critical errors they say contributed to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig...more

Supreme Court Reverses Criminal Fine

On June 21, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in Southern Union Co. v. United States, 132 S. Ct. 2344 (2012). The 6-3 decision overturned an $18 million criminal penalty for the illegal storage of mercury on the...more

Ford v. Edgewood Properties, Inc. (USDC NJ 8/31/2012)

Ford v. Edgewood Properties, Inc. - RICO and Conspiracy Claims Against Environmental Consultant Survive MSJ

Ford v. Edgewood Properties, Inc. - RICO and Conspiracy Claims Against Environmental Consultant Survive MSJ In the Ford Motor Company v. Edgewood Properties, Inc., Case 2:06-cv-01278-ES-CLW (USDC NJ 8/31/12) case, Civil...more

Ten Questions with Beau James Brock

Interview with Beau James Brock published in the Baton Rouge Bar Association's Around the Bar periodical in April 2012....more

BP Gulf Oil Spill Suit Marks the Beginning of a Very Long Road

On the one-year anniversary of the Gulf oil spill that killed 11 workers and produced what has been called the greatest environmental disaster in U.S. history, BP, p.l.c. today filed blockbuster lawsuits in federal district...more

Strong Civil and Criminal Enforcement Emphasized in Department of Justice’s 2011 Environmental Enforcement Authorities

For the Department of Justice's (“DOJ’s”) civil and criminal environmental enforcement arm – the Environment and Natural Resources Division (“ENRD”) – 2010 was an "extraordinarily busy year and a very successful one,"...more

The U.S. Supreme Court Prepares For Its New Term

Today?s new cases include 2 cases that are of particular significance to the business community. See full legal update for the questions presented in the following cases: Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway Co. v....more