BP Oil Spill of April, 2010
Why Class Action Lawsuits May Not be in the Best Interests of Potential Plaintiffs
By Brian J. Donovan
May 9, 2010
INTRODUCTION
On April 20, 2010, the Transocean semi-submersible drilling unit Deepwater Horizon explodes and catches fire, approximately 51 miles southeast of Venice, Louisiana, while finishing a well for British Petroleum (BP). On April 22, 2010, a second explosion occurs causing the Deepwater Horizon to sink. Kinks in the riser (a long pipe that connects the wellhead to the rig), created as the rig sank to the seafloor, may be all that is preventing the Deepwater Horizon well from releasing its maximum flow. Sand is an integral part of the formations that hold oil under the Gulf. This abrasive sand, carried in the oil as it shoots through the pipe at high velocity, is resulting in the ongoing erosion of the riser. Under a worst-case scenario, if the riser were to disintegrate due to this internal sandblaster-like erosion, the resulting catastrophic failure could easily release 60,000 to 160,000 barrels of oil per day. The formation that was being drilled by Deepwater Horizon when it sank is reported to have tens of millions of barrels of oil.
The media is reporting that teams of lawyers from across the country are descending on the Gulf Coast to file potential class-action lawsuits, brought pursuant to Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, to recover damages suffered by plaintiffs and the class members as a result of the oil spill that resulted from the explosion and subsequent sinking of the oil rig Deepwater Horizon on April 22, 2010.
This article discusses the origin and evolution of the class action, the benefits and concerns of a class action, and whether a class action lawsuit would be in the best interests of plaintiffs when the damages suffered by each individual plaintiff as a result of the BP oil spill of April, 2010 are potentially so great.
CLASS ACTION: ORIGIN and EVOLUTION
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