Meet the lead attorneys involved in the BP oil spill trial

Meet the lead attorneys involved in the BP oil spill trial
The BP oil spill trial, which begins Monday, will involve dozens of high-profile attorneys on both sides of the aisle. Here are the lead litigators who are expected to be the major players during the trial's first phase.

By Richard Thompson, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
on February 22, 2013 at 7:23 PM
updated February 23, 2013 at 10:43 AM
Full Article

Attorneys for the state of Alabama will represent the interests of all of the states involved, including Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and Texas. However, the Louisiana Attorney General's Office will also participate.

THE PLAINTIFFS AND THEIR ATTORNEYS
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Michael Underhill
Graduated from the University of San Francisco.
Heads the Justice Department's West Coast and Pacific Rim Office of the Torts Branch. Represents the department in affirmative and defensive admiralty tort cases and maritime commercial litigation.
In 1996, Underhill litigated U.S. v. Hyundai Merchant Marine Co., the government's first major civil trial under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. He also handled litigation involving the Cosco Busan, which struck the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in 2007.
Steve O'Rourke
Graduated from Tulane University Law School.
Senior attorney, Justice Department's Environmental Enforcement Section.
In his two decades at the Justice Department, O'Rourke has represented the U.S. in federal district court on cases involving the Clean Water Act, the Oil Pollution Act, and other federal environmental statutes. He was the lead attorney in U.S. v. Monroe Chemical Corp. of California, one of the largest natural resource damages cases in the country, which involved scores of expert witnesses and more than 150 parties.
STATE OF ALABAMA
Luther Strange
Graduated from Tulane University Law School.
Before being elected Alabama Attorney General in 2010, Strange was a partner with the law firm of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, where he worked as an economic development lawyer and advised companies on growth and expansion opportunities in Alabama. In the trial, Strange serves as coordinating counsel for the Gulf states.
Corey Maze
Graduated from Georgetown University Law Center.
Maze has served as special deputy attorney general since 2011.
STATE OF LOUISIANA
James "Buddy" Caldwell
Graduated from Tulane University Law School.
Elected Louisiana Attorney General in 2007 and re-elected in 2011, Caldwell has staked his claim solving computer crimes and recovering hundreds of millions of dollars as a result of Medicaid fraud investigations and prosecutions. He obtained a jury verdict of more than $257 million against Janssen, a pharmaceutical company. Caldwell served as a district attorney for 29 years before becoming attorney general, representing the parishes of East Carroll, Madison and Tensas. In that post, he tried most major felony cases.
Allan Kanner
Graduated from Harvard Law School.
Kanner founded Kanner & Whiteley in New Orleans in 1981, acquiring a reputation in complex litigation, environmental law and consumer fraud. He has taught law courses at Tulane, Duke University, Yale University, and the University of Texas.
PLAINTIFFS' STEERING COMMITEE
Stephen Herman
Graduated from Tulane University Law School.
Herman, a partner in the New Orleans firm Herman, Herman, Katz & Cotlar, spent a year clerking for Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Harry Lemmon. He has handled cases ranging from highway defect and products liability cases to fire and flood loss cases, to attorney fee disputes and employment cases. Herman has recently focused on commercial, class action, insurance coverage and professional liability cases, representing both plaintiffs and defendants.
Jim Roy
Graduated from Louisiana State University Law School.
Roy, a Lafayette lawyer with Domengeaux Wright Roy & Edwards, was recognized by The National Law Journal in 2001 after winning a $43 million jury verdict for a double amputee. He also won a $32 million jury verdict in Lafayette Federal Court in April 2007. He specializes in maritime personal injury, serious injury and complex litigation.

More results for:
Alabama
Florida
Louisiana
Mississippi
Texas