Large Florida law firms are tapped for defense in the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill cases … and contract attorneys scramble

According to an article in today’s law.com, the key defendants in the BP oil spill litigation, key defendants have lined up three prominent Florida law firms to defend against spill cases in Florida.  Akerman Senterfitt (Florida’s largest law firm) snagged BP and will handle all its Florida civil litigation. Cameron International (the manufacturer of the failed blowout preventer) snapped up the second-largest firm, Greenberg Traurig. Halliburton Energy Services (which pumped cement at the well) hired Broad and Cassel. 

Akerman Senterfitt and Greenberg Traurig are major users of contract attorneys throughout Florida.  

With potentially billions in lost tourism and fishing industry dollars, and with its longer coastline, some believe Florida rather than Louisiana will be ground zero for oil spill litigation. 

But everybody is eying the multidistrict litigation panel, which will hear arguments in July to decide where the federal lawsuits should be consolidated. Not surprisingly, the oil industry is fighting for Texas, while plaintiff firms are pushing for Louisiana or Florida. 

For the full article from law.com please click here. 

Posse List members in Florida are telling us they are getting calls from various staffing agencies.  Kelly Law Registry is very active in Florida.  For their contact information and the contact information for other staffing agencies active in Florida click here.  We will be expanding that agency list based on emails we have received from various Florida agencies, and we will post more information as it becomes available.