New Orleans or Houston for BP venue?

A New Orleans federal judge has ruled to temporarily consolidate 30 of the 200 plus lawsuits against BP in his courtroom for pretrial purposes. U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier said he’s doing this to streamline the process before a multidistrict panel meets on July 29th that will decide on how to handle all of the cases nationally. Meanwhile, BP wants all of the cases heard by U.S. District Courts Judge Lynn Hughes in Houston. Incidentally, Hughes’ courtroom is just three blocks from the offices of Vujasinovic & Beckcom PLCC, a leading offshore law firm that has represented clients against companies involved in the Deepwater Horizon platform.