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Federal Judge Appoints Steering Committee in BP Oil Spill

A federal judge in New Orleans has appointed a 15-member plaintiff’s steering committee that will oversee the hundreds of lawsuits filed against BP PLc and its partners with regards to the Gulf oil spill earlier this year.

Included in the steering committee is a four-person group that will coordinate plaintiffs’ activities, Reuters reports. They are  Louisiana-based lawyers Jim Roy and Steve Herman, Scott Summy of Texas-based Barron & Budd, and Brian Barr of Levin Papantonio Thomas Mitchell Rafferty & Proctor, which is based in Pensacola, Florida.

Reuters notes in its report that several high-profile attorneys were left off the committee by Judge Carl Barbier.

They include David Boies, who represented Al Gore before the U.S. Supreme Court in the case that decided the disputed 2000 presidential election; Texas attorney Mark Lanier and Joseph Rice of Motley Rice.

According to the report, more than 100 attorneys applied for the steering committee and those selected will be eligible for a bigger piece of any settlement awarded.

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