What venue for BP?
It is reported that there is a major scuffle over the venue for the BP claims. A “venue”, which in this context means the appropriate location of the court for trial, can be resolved with multiple arguments. For example, proper venue can be:
the location of the incident which caused the damages [Louisiana];
the location of the defendant(s) [many of the defendants have offices in Houston, Texas]; or
the location of the damages [all of the Gulf States].
Each of the parties have an incentive for promoting their “proper” venue. The federal courts are seeking to consolidate this litigation, which could be hundreds of cases (if not more), to insure that the decisions are fairly consistent. However, the defendant(s) [BP and others] probably believe they will get a “balanced” review, if they can argue the decisions in the area where they “might” have the most influence. [Houston.] The plaintiffs are looking for the state where they can get the most damages, based on the statutory and jurisprudential law. Finally, the lawyers are probably working to get the case in the state where they are licensed, so they have a potential for more clients.
[It will be interested to see the result.]
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