Good evening ……….. as we have now seen the recent court filings of the FOURTH NINETY-DAY STATUS REPORT ON THE BP LITIGATION filed on 11/17, our trustee has reported:
“The Trustee reports that since the filing of the Third Ninety-Day Status Report, the District Court still has taken no action on the Motion. The Trustee is not able to predict when the District Court will take any action on the Motion. In effect, the BP Litigation remains status quo with the case stayed and no discovery allowed.
The BP Litigation is one of the cases in MDL 2179. The District Court manages MDL 2179 and has selected five moratoria-related cases (the “OPA Test Cases”) to proceed and has stayed all other individual moratoria cases including the BP Litigation. Discovery in the OPA Test Cases remain underway in MDL 2179.”
Not much news from the court ordered update.
So here is some news regarding the test cases.
The OPA Causation Test Cases are: Seven not Five.
Bisso Marine Company, Inc. v. BP Exploration & Production, Inc., 13-0706.
Wadleigh Industries, Inc. v. BP Exploration & Production, Inc., et al, 13-0810.
Certified Platform Services, LLC v. BP Exploration & Production, Inc., 13-1143.
Blake International USA Rigs, LLV v. BP Exploration & Production, Inc., et al, 13-1185.
Trinity Offshore, LLC v. BP Exploration & Production, Inc., et al, 13-1222.
Seahawk Liquidating Trust, et al v. BP Exploration & Production Inc., et al, 13-1386.
Black Elk Energy Offshore Operations, LLC v. BP Exploration & Production, Inc., et al, 13-2006.
On November 13, 2015, there was a conference. Present were Duke Williams and Paul Sterbcow for the plaintiffs and Matt Regan for BP.
The OPA Test Cases were reviewed. The parties shall concentrate on the claims of three plaintiffs: Bisso Marine Company, Inc.; Wadleigh Industries, Inc.; and Blake International USA Rigs, LLV.
Bisso.
Document production for Bisso was certified as complete. Bisso shall promptly: (1) resolve clawback issues; (2) complete privilege logs; and (3) amend its responses to BP’s interrogatories. The parties shall meet-and-confer to schedule depositions of Bisso witnesses in January followed by depositions of BP’s witnesses.
Wadleigh and Blake.
Document production for Wadleigh and Blake is not complete. Their document production will be smaller than Bisso. Wadleigh and Blake shall: (1) complete their document production as promptly as possible, including preparation of privilege logs; and (2) amend their responses to BP’s interrogatories.
Stipulations.
The parties shall work on stipulations.
Prior Motions.
The parties shall file Rule 12 motions to dismiss as follows:
a. BP shall file a motion contending that the Moratoria claims must be dismissed for failure to state an OPA claim. The issue to be presented is whether BP can be held liable for damages flowing from government instituted actions such as imposition of a drilling moratorium or the government’s refusal to issue drilling permits.
b. The plaintiffs shall re-urge their motion to strike affirmative defenses, particularly any alleged “superseding cause” defense premised on governmental action or inaction following the spill.
The parties shall file these motions by Wednesday, December 16, 2015.
The oppositions shall be filed by Wednesday, January 6, 2016.
The replies shall be filed by Wednesday, January 20, 2016 following which the motions will be under submission.
Cross-Motions for Summary Judgment.
Following resolution of the motions itemized in paragraph 4, the Court may order the parties to file cross-motions for summary judgment in the three Test Cases regarding any remaining issues.
Next Conference.
There will be a further telephone conference on Monday, November 30, 2015, at 11:00 a.m. The Court will provide the dial-in information. Hell the trustee can dial in and listen!!!!!!
This information was obtained from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, public information. You be the judge if maybe, just maybe, the trustee could have shared more information in his 90 status report.
Now the fun,
Some may recall an earlier post reporting that the “The merits of the moratorium claims may effectively be decided as a legal issue raised by motion, after several bellwether trials.”
These three plaintiffs: Bisso Marine Company, Inc.; Wadleigh Industries, Inc.; and Blake International USA Rigs, LLV., would be considered bellwether trials. If these three cases are won, we may not see our case making its way to trial, the risk for us is the trustee negotiating away the value of our claim during this period of motions and positioning.
As I have filed my motion with the bankruptcy court regarding this legal action, that motion has not been posted as yet, I still have concerns which my motion addresses. In my heart and soul, I believe the trustee has no intent to help equity holders, I sure hope I am wrong.
Now for some good news, Bisso Marine being selected as one of the three cases, their corporate attorney is one of the best of the best in our area. If there is a way to win this case, he will find it, and they will fight for every dollar they are asking for. I wish I had as much confidence in our trustee as I do in Bisso’s attorney.
Wadleigh will also give them a good fight. It is going to be an interesting time.
For me it is time to step up.
AI
