Gulf of Mexico oil spill lawsuit-financing question needs to be addressed, sponsor says
By Bill Barrow
The Times-Picayune
June 21, 2010
An eleventh-hour compromise to allow the state to hire private attorneys on contingency fee contracts for Gulf of Mexico oil spill litigation died Monday when the annual legislative session ended without the House taking up the measure.
The 6 p.m. mandatory end prompted celebratory hugs from business lobbyists who framed Senate Bill 731 as a sop to plaintiffs attorneys and a prelude to so-called predatory lawsuits. Aides to Attorney General Buddy Caldwell and lobbyists for the plaintiffs bar, meanwhile, huddled in disgust, while Senate President Joel Chaisson II, the bill's sponsor, assumed the Senate podium to excoriate the House leadership and demand that Gov. Bobby Jindal call a special session to address the matter.
