Find Answers To Your Questions By Searching Here:

Maritime Attorney Brian Beckcom discusses the timing of lawsuits from the Transocean Deepwater Horizon rig explosion

I AM CONSIDERING FILING A LEGAL CLAIM AS A RESULT OF THE TRANSOCEAN DEEPWATER HORIZON RIG DISASTER - HOW QUICKLY DO I NEED TO MAKE MY DECISION?

Two days after the Transocean rig disaster, two lawsuits were filed by two different family members in two different states. In our experience, it is pretty common for an initial lawsuit to be filed pretty quickly after such a major catastrophe.

In fact, some attorneys will try to convince their clients that they will lose valuable legals rights if they don't act fast. At the same time, the company may be pressuring employees and their family members to keep quiet and not hire a lawyer, or promising to "take care of" the victims.

We believe in a major catastrophe such as the Transocean rig disaster, with federal agencies still trying to stop the flow of oil and where the investigations haven't really even begun in earnest, it is appropriate to proceed cautiously.

Most important, you need the opportunity to be with your loved ones. It is not appropriate to feel pressured by either the company or some law firm to make a decision on a legal claim immediately within days or weeks of the disaster.

In a case such as the Transocean rig disaster, which will fall under federal maritime law, the statute of limitations (the deadline by which you must file a legal claim) is generally 3 years from the date of the explosion and almost never shorter than 1 year from the date of the explosion.

There are a few exceptions to this deadline. Under maritime law, Transocean will almost certainly file a "Limitation of Liability" claim. This is a legal proceeding in which Transocean will attempt to limit its liability for all claims except environmental claims to the value of the Deepwater Horizon and her "frieght then pending." Limitation of Liability proceedings are very complex and require experienced legal counsel.

We anticipate that Transocean will file a Limitation Proceeding in the very near future and are monitoring the situation closely.

If Transocean files such a legal proceeding, then the deadine to bring a legal claim will be severely shortened.

Why are some lawyers filing lawsuits so quickly?

There are many reasons that lawsuits are filed quickly after a disaster. One possible reason is to preserve evidence. To to this, the lawyer would request a Temporary Restraining Order ("TRO" for short). A TRO asks the judge to immediately order the companies to avoid tampering or destroying evidence. However, with the Transocean rig explosion, there is no real reason to file a TRO because the evidence is sitting at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico and many qualified public authorities are already beginning their investigations.

Another reason an attorney would file a lawsuit quickly would be to publicize their involvement in the case. This may be an effort to convince more clients to hire their law firm. We do not believe this is a good reason to rush to the courthouse.

Another reason an attorney would file a lawsuit quickly would be to choose the best possible "venue" for the lawsuit to take place. "Venue" means the location of the lawsuit. The Transocean rig disaster lawsuits will most likely occur in Houston, Texas and perhaps in Louisana. Since lawsuits have been filed in Houston and Louisana already, there really isn't any pressing need to rush to the courthouse for venue reasons either. Also, if and when Transocean files a Limitation of Liability proceeding, Transocean will try to select the "venue" for that proceeding. There will undoubtedly be legal fights over where the cases are ultimately decided but at this point filing a lawsuit immediately may not have much effect on that decision.

We continue to monitor the Transocean rig explosion disaster and will keep updating our websites as we discover information we believe would be helpful to victims of the disaster.