Steve Korris News
Boat owners claim BP owes more than $600 million already paid
Haycraft NEW ORLEANS - Boat owners who made $600 million cleaning the Gulf of Mexico after the Deepwater Horizon explosion claim BP owes them much more.
BP directors object to conditions of suit transfer to England
Taylor HOUSTON � BP directors who won a court order sending shareholder suits to England have rejected conditions that shareholders wanted to impose before crossing the sea.
BP and Transocean want evidence of U.S. government's role introduced in oil spill litigation
NEW ORLEANS - Deepwater Horizon operator BP and rig owner Transocean, trading blame for last year's oil spill, aim to drag Uncle Sam into the dispute.
BP shareholders consider ruling moving lawsuits to English court
Ellison HOUSTON � Pension funds and other BP shareholders suing directors over the Deepwater Horizon explosion haven't decided whether to obey or appeal an order to move their action from federal court in Texas to the English High Court.
High court wants case over wetlands damage reconsidered
AUSTIN � After Palestine surgeon Lee Roy Mathis died, the Supreme Court of Texas ruled that appellate judges in Tyler improperly rejected a jury verdict against him on a claim that a neighbor damaged wetlands on his 2-square-mile ranch.
Plaintiffs' committee wants past testimony admitted in BP suits
Roy NEW ORLEANS � Plaintiff lawyers preparing for trial over liability for the Deepwater Horizon explosion seek to admit past testimony of witnesses who now refuse to testify because they might incriminate themselves.
Cases determined by merits, not procedural defaults, Texas justices rule
Texas Supreme Court AUSTIN � Texas Supreme Court Justices pulled accountant Lynda Marino out of a trap she stepped into when she tried to defend herself in a civil suit without a lawyer.
Appeals court says Judge Walker sentenced man too harshly
For the second time in three months, Ninth District appellate judges caught Jefferson County District Judge Layne Walker punishing a criminal too harshly.
5th Circuit gives okay to continue beach vegetation line suit
NEW ORLEANS � Carol Severance can continue to challenge a decision that Hurricane Rita turned her Galveston Island properties into public beaches, even though she sold the properties, U. S. Fifth Circuit appellate judges ruled on Sept. 28.
Dickie Scruggs gets testimony unsealed in attempt to vacate guilty plea
Scruggs ABERDEEN, Miss. � Tort king Dickie Scruggs, who disgraced Mississippi on his way to prison, aims to get out early by disgracing his brother-in-law, former U. S. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott.
Solyndra bankruptcy trustee proposes taking over if execs keep invoking Fifth
WILMINGTON, Del. (Legal Newsline) � U.S. bankruptcy trustee Roberta DeAngelis proposes to take over management of solar panel maker Solyndra if its leaders keep pleading Fifth Amendment privilege against self incrimination.
BP shareholder suits in court Nov. 4 on motions to dismiss
Taylor HOUSTON - U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison will hear motions to dismiss three groups of Deepwater Horizon suits from BP shareholders at hearings on Nov. 4.
Solyndra bankruptcy trustee proposes taking over if execs keep invoking Fifth
WILMINGTON, Del. (Legal Newsline) � U.S. bankruptcy trustee Roberta DeAngelis proposes to take over management of solar panel maker Solyndra if its leaders keep pleading Fifth Amendment privilege against self incrimination.
BP should have warned employees to dump stock, complaint claims
Lanier HOUSTON � No employee ever knocked an employer as hard as BP employees knock the company in federal court.
Shareholders must sue BP under British law, judge rules
HOUSTON - Shareholders who sued BP directors in American courts under British law must pursue their claims in London, U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison ruled on Sept. 15.
Government delays document production in BP litigation; Napolitano lacks email is cited as one reason
Napolitano NEW ORLEANS � Homeland security secretary Janet Napolitano lacks an electronic mail account, the Obama Administration offers as one of many excuses for delays in producing documents about the Deepwater Horizon explosion.
***FOR PRINT**Shareholders must sue BP under British law, judge rules
Ellison HOUSTON - Shareholders who sued BP directors in American courts under British law must pursue their claims in London, U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison ruled on Sept. 15.
BP shareholders urge Barbier to keep claims in U.S.
HOUSTON - BP stands for British petroleum but BP directors should face American justice, shareholders suing over losses from the Deepwater Horizon explosion believe.
Transocean wants claims of five who took Fifth dismissed
Miller NEW ORLEANS - Deepwater Horizon oil rig owner Transocean claims workers hid behind the Fifth Amendment to avoid answering questions about their injuries.
Appeals court upholds 40 percent legal fees in rollover settlement
Montgomery County District Judge Michael Mayes improperly slashed $277,403 from legal fees that Orange County District Judge Patrick Clark awarded in a wrongful death suit, Ninth District appellate judges decided on Aug. 25.