The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) held a hearing in Boise, Idaho, on July 29, 2010, to determine whether the Deepwater Horizon oil spill cases in federal court should all be consolidated and, if so, which court should handle the cases. There are over 300 cases currently pending in federal courts, with over 250 of them filed as putative class actions. Over 200 attorneys were at the hearing today.
The most entertaining speaker may have been New Orleans mass tort litigator Russ Herman, who told the court:
“Our culture rises as a gumbo of Cajuns, Creole, French, German and Spanish,” he said. “All of that is threatened now. This disaster threatens our hope and faith. That’s why New Orleans is the best avenue of justice.”
“We rise out of our myth, our metaphor, our mystery, our seafood and our music, which now is threatened, and the threat of our culture threatens our hope and our faith. You have an opportunity to focus the world on this country, on this disaster, so it won’t happen again. Assist us in our resliiency.”
For more quotes from and about today’s hearing, check out my oil spill attorneys post at BPOilNews.com.
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I’m going to take this blog off the topics of law, technology, and legal marketing for just one post. Instead of my normal subject matter, this post will discuss politics and religion or, more specifically, Glenn Beck’s teachings about politics and religion. [click to continue…]
Social media has become “the next big thing” for those of us involved in Internet legal marketing. Because most attorneys are late adapters, there aren’t a lot of law firms getting clients from social media. When law firms do use social networks, it’s deemed worthy of a Wall Street Journal article. But I believe I can show you how attorneys can successfully use social media in a mass tort legal marketing campaign.
I’ve used the Internet for legal marketing in mass tort cases for over 10 years, and I’ve used online video as part of my legal marketing for 2 years. But I didn’t add Twitter and Facebook to my toolbox until the last year. It’s one thing to read books about social media marketing; it’s another to actually do it. Most of the really valuable experience I’ve gotten with social media has come in the last 7 weeks as I’ve blogged, Tweeted and used Facebook to interact with people about the Gulf oil spill.
To read this entire article, go to our Social Media Marketing for Mass Tort Attorneys page.
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We’ve posted an oil spill suggestion for the President at BPOilNews.com. We believe it’s time for a New Deal for the Gulf Coast. We believe the U.S. and BP have divergent interests when it comes to cleaning up the oil spill. BP’s interest is in holding down the costs. The U.S. has an interest in protecting the ecosystem and protecting the health and financial well-being of gulf coast residents and businesses. And the fines and damages from BP should pay most or all of the costs.
I first made this oil spill suggestion on May 28, 2010. Take a look at the suggestion and share your opinion by leaving a comment.
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BP’s media blockade, oil spill pictures, and the First Amendment – Has the First Amendment been repealed?
We’ve got a new post at BPOilNews.com on oil spill pictures and the media blackout. Unfortunately there is a very public record going back several weeks of BP’s efforts to prevent the media from photographing the wildlife affected by the oil spill. An even more unfortunate aspect of the blackout is that it has been enforced by the U.S. Coast guard, federal wildlife officials, and local sheriffs’ deputies, as well as BP contractors and employees. There are several examples of flagrant violations of First Amendment rights, and the sole beneficiary of the blockade is British Petroleum. We’ve called on President Obama to tell government officials not to allow citizens (including the press) to be blocked from public property. On a more practical level, we’ve suggested that Gulf Coast residents do what Iranians did when faced with a media blackout of anti-government demonstrations: use Twitter and other social media to document the effects of the oil spill.
Here’s an example of the oil spill pictures that British Petroleum does not want you to see. After watching the video, there’s no question in my mind that BP has good reason to try to keep this off television and the Internet. The real question is whether we will allow them to succeed.
Go to BPOilNews.com to see oil spill pictures that BP doesn’t want you to see.
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BP has gone to great lengths over the past few weeks to keep all video of the oil spill away from Americans. BP posted a live video feed of the gushing oil well only after being pressed by Congressman Ed Markey. BP has had security crews preventing the media from accessing areas affected by the oil spill. A videographer who shoots video for my company was refused access to locations in Venice, Louisiana by BP security personnel, even though the Coast Guard had previously given permission. Finally, however, there are oil spill video images being made public. And they tell a heartbreaking story of the effect of the oil spill on the wildlife of the Gulf Coast. These are the oil spill video images BP doesn’t want you to see.
Update June 5, 2010: We’ve added two more videos at BPOilNews.com. These videos contain oil spill pictures from Associated Press and CBS. Warning: these videos aren’t safe for small children.
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Over at BPOilNews.com, we’ve published over 200 suggestions submitted by the public for plugging BP’s Gulf oil leak, or for reducing damage from the oil spill. Now I want to make a suggestion of my own. No, I don’t have an idea for plugging the hole. But I do think I have a common-sense suggestion for cleaning up the spill in a way that also minimizes economic losses to people and businesses on the Gulf coast. (Go to BPOilNews.com to read the rest of my suggestion for the Gulf oil spill cleanup.)
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The oil spill suggestion box is still open at BP Oil News. We’ve received over one hundred suggestions, and more are still coming in. If you have ideas, please submit them at our Gulf oil spill suggestion box.
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What can we do together? Since 1999 I've been using the Internet, websites, blogs, online video, Twitter and other social media to help thousands of injured people find great lawyers. We've organized national networks of lawyers in over forty states to take on Pfizer, Bayer, Yamaha and other multinational corporations. We've put consumers on a level playing field, and had fun doing it. If you're a great lawyer looking for more clients, contact me and let's see what we can do together.
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