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Analise Casper, 25, of Idaho Falls, Idaho, protests outside of the James McClure Federal Building in Boise on Thursday, during the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation’s judge and location selection hearing. More than 300 lawsuits have been filed related to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Robb Hicken for Dolan Media Newswires
Dozens of coastal attorneys have descended on remote, land-locked Boise for a hearing in federal court to decide what to do with several hundred lawsuits arising from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
A panel of seven judges were to decide whether and how to consolidate the cases — which judge should oversee them and where — during Thursday’s hour-long hearing. A ruling is expected next month.
More than 300 federal lawsuits have been filed in 12 states seeking billions of dollars in damages from the massive spill, triggered by the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig operated by BP, The Associated Press reports.
The hearing has been set in Boise as part of the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation’s rotating slate of venues. The panel considers whether to combine similar cases filed in different jurisdictions.
The question of location and which judge will hear the cases is crucial. Houston is more convenient for oil company defendants; New Orleans appears to be more favorable for plaintiffs, The Times-Picayune reports.
Plaintiffs include shrimpers and oystermen, charter boat captains, beach resort and condo owners, restaurants and bars, seafood suppliers, bait and tackle shops, and even tourist attractions such as Key West’s Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum, according to The AP.
The federal courthouse in Boise has been gearing up for months for the panel. More recently, the staff has been working to accommodate a bevy of out-of-town lawyers and reporters.
“For plaintiffs’ attorneys, the hearing is also about showmanship, with everyone who’s anyone in the world of personal-injury and product-liability suits making an appearance in the out-of-the-way city,” the Wall Street Journal writes.
