Barbier
U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier had some stern words for the State of Louisiana at the most recent BP oil spill MDL status conference regarding a recent filing by the state which came after a deadline set by a court management order (CMO).
Speaking in his courtroom at the Eastern District of Louisiana, Barbier said "Louisiana doesn't have the right to violate CMOs...We're not going to operate like this."
The State of Louisiana filed a 96-page memorandum in opposition of a BP motion to dismiss certain defendants making claims under the Oil Pollution Act.
BP argued that the memo violated several restrictions relating to filing deadlines and page limits.
Louisiana attorney Alan Kannar stated that the State had filed a notice of intent and the motion was relevant to the state's interest despite Louisiana not having a claim that was affected by BP's motion to dismiss.
Barbier said a notice of intent is not a motion of leave to file and that Louisiana should still have adhered to the CMO rules.
"I don't understand why Louisiana thinks it deserves to not operate under the same rules as everyone else," Barbier said.
In the end, Barbier allowed the memo to be admitted but also gave BP and other defendants an extra 10 days and 25 pages to file responsive pleadings.
Federal MDL 2:10-md-2179