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Posts Tagged ‘law’

BP Engineer’s Trial ‘Stark Reminder’ About Preserving Evidence, Sutherland Lawyers Write in Commentary

Posted on: December 18th, 2013

HOUSTON – Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP lawyers Carter Williams and Thomas Appleman co-authored a commentary on essential lessons from the trial of a BP engineer who deleted text messages related to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010.

Their column, “BP engineer’s trial shows worst outcome of failure to preserve evidence,” appeared on the Houston Chronicle’s popular “Fuel Fix” blog. The column discusses the issues involved in the government’s successful obstruction case against former Kurt Mix, the BP engineer who was involved in efforts to stop the flow of leaking oil. A jury convicted Mix of one charge that he deleted messages to obstruct a federal investigation into the spill. He was acquitted of a second charge.

“The trial provides a stark reminder that the consequences of failing to preserve evidence can be much more severe than adverse inferences and/or employee disciplinary actions,” the attorneys wrote. According to the government indictment, BP sent at least 10 notices to employees warning them that destroying evidence related to the spill could lead to prosecution.

Although obstruction charges rarely result from failure to preserve evidence related to civil suits, “the risks increase whenever the litigation arises out of regulated activity or other circumstances likely to lead to congressional, agency, or grand jury proceedings. In such cases, counsel should ensure that their clients appreciate the additional risks associated with a failure to preserve data,” Mr. Williams and Mr. Appleman wrote.

Both attorneys, working in the Houston office, were on the trial team representing defendant drilling contractor Transocean in the multidistrict litigation arising from the oil spill, with Williams managing much of the case’s massive discovery efforts. Sutherland’s attorneys in Austin and Houston represent clients in Texas and around the world in litigation, energy, transactional, regulatory, environmental and intellectual property matters.

Sutherland partner featured in story on energy companies doing business in Mexico

Posted on: September 17th, 2013

Sutherland partner Steven L. Roberts was quoted recently in the Houston Business Journal in an article about the challenges for energy companies dealing with the legal system in Mexico.

The energy industry is anxiously waiting to see what types of reforms Mexico’s new president might support. Roberts notes that country’s legal system has some significant differences that must be navigated.

“It’s almost required to have a Mexican national agent,” Roberts told the HBJ. Also key is writing arbitration into the contract.

While some might think the U.S. system is a free-for-all at times, it’s a rule-driven methodical process compared to litigation in Mexico, says Roberts. “You want to be in the arbitration situation when at all possible.”

The legal system in Mexico isn’t based on common law practices as it is in the U.S. That can mean that a case that might be a simple commercial dispute in this country could wind up in criminal territory in Mexico, he says.

The full article, “Complex Mexican legal system can challenge foreign energy companies,” is here (subscription required):

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/blog/drilling-down/2013/09/complex-mexican-legal-system-can.html

Sutherland lawyer quoted about offshore platform accident investigation

Posted on: August 23rd, 2013

Daniel Johnson recently discussed with the Houston Business Journal the decision by Black Elk Energy Offshore Operations LLC to commission its own investigation into the cause of a deadly platform accident that killed three workers last year.

The report by an outside consultant said the explosion that occurred was due to poor training of workers who were hired by a contractor in violation of Black Elk’s contract. Such a report could be most effective with the investment community, Johnson says, because it suggests Black Elk is taking a deep look at the incident with the idea of preventing future disasters.

The company’s report doesn’t absolve the oil company from fault with federal regulators, Johnson told the HBJ, although they may take it into account as they do their own investigation.

The full article, “Black Elk explosion report could boost company profile,” is available here (subscription required): http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/blog/drilling-down/2013/08/black-elk-report-could-boost-company.html?s=print