Lawsuits Over Oil Rig Disaster Spill Into Court in Louisiana, Mississippi | National Law Journal

More litigation is gushing out of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

In Mississippi, two commercial shrimpers on Monday filed a $5 million class action in federal court in Gulfport, alleging the oil spill could destroy their livelihoods. The plaintiffs are represented by Sheehan & Johnson in Biloxi, Miss., and Gambrell & Associates in Oxford, Miss.

In Louisiana, Houston‘s Lanier Law Firm filed a proposed class action on Monday in federal court in New Orleans on behalf of a fishing company claiming financial injuries from the spill.

In the same court, Wigington Rumley & Dunn of Corpus Christi, Texas, plans to file two similar lawsuits today on behalf of two other charter fishing companies alleging their business has come to a halt because of the spill.

There’s also Cooper v. BP PLC, the first oil spill lawsuit filed last Friday, also in the Eastern District of Louisiana, where shrimpers, commercial fisherman and commercial boaters are suing over lost business. The lead lawyer in that case is Daniel Becnel Jr. of Becnel Law Firm in Reserve, La.

And Joseph Ritch of Wigington Rumley said there's no telling where the litigation will end. “We know that the amount of the oil spilling is going to affect all walks of life….Condo associations, casinos along the gulf, hotels — if there’s oil on the beach when people are going on vacation, you figure people aren’t going to go there,” he said.

via Law.com – Lawsuits Over Oil Rig Disaster Spill Into Court in Louisiana, Mississippi.

LegalTech is in NYC next week: here is why you should go if you can – The Posse List

LegalTech New York opens this coming Monday (February 1st) at The Hilton New York (1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York  1-212-586-7000).

The show is presented by ALM Events, a producer of educational and networking events.  And most of us know ALM through its various media outlets/brands:  The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, Law.com, Law Journal Press, The National Law Journal, etc.

It is the world’s largest legal technology conference and trade show.  Last year the show attracted nearly 13,000 attendees and featured almost 300 exhibiting companies. The 2010 conference will offer more than 60 educational sessions for attendees on topics ranging from electronic discovery and knowledge management to emerging technologies.

Each day, the sessions are parsed into multiple tracks including: Risk Management, General Counsel, Web 3.0, Intelligence, Knowledge Management, International E-Discovery, ILTA Advanced IT, Comprehensive Recordkeeping, and Emerging Technology.

We have covered both LegalTech shows (New York and LA) because our membership base has expanded beyond our core of contract attorneys/temporary attorneys and contract forensics consultants to include paralegals, in-house counsel, law firm attorneys, solo practitioners, e-discovery vendors, legal media, and others.

If you are contract attorney/temporary attorney or a contract forensics consultant or paralegal, or involved in some aspect of e-discovery work, and you’ll be in NYC next week,  you should go.  No, not necessarily pay the $695 single-day attendance fee if you cannot afford it.  Because a lot of LegalTech events are open to everybody.

via LegalTech is in NYC next week: here is why you should go if you can – The Posse List.