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BP Plc, the U.S. and plaintiffs who filed hundreds of lawsuits seeking billions of dollars for damages stemming from the largest oil spill in U.S. history are fighting over where the cases should be heard first. A panel of federal judges in Boise, Idaho, will hear arguments today on which city will host spill suits, including wrongful-death claims by families of workers killed in the April explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig. Claims include losses of revenue by Gulf Coast businesses and securities claims by holders of U.S. shares in the London-based energy company. The federal government wants the cases consolidated in federal court in New Orleans, while BP said it prefers Houston. “It all comes down to which judge the panel thinks has the intellectual firepower, experience and the docket space to handle a huge case like this,” said Edward Sherman, a Tulane Law School professor in New Orleans and mass litigation expert. The seven-judge panel, appointed by the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, meets periodically in locations around the country. The judge they choose to preside over the BP cases will make crucial legal rulings on what evidence can be used and which laws applied. Oil analyst Fadel Gheit, at Oppenheimer & Co., estimated the damage from the disaster may top $60 billion. ed hardy BP faces at least 300 suits over the spill as it works to permanently plug the Macondo well 40 miles off the coast. Oil has fouled beaches and marshes in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas and Florida. Lawsuits were filed by commercial fishing interests, beachfront-property owners and environmentalists claiming harm from drifting oil. The parties have suggested courts in all five states as a proper venue for the cases. Types of Losses Different types of spill-related cases may be consolidated. One group may involve economic loss and environmental damage claims filed in federal courts in a dozen states. Most of those cases also name as defendants Transocean Ltd., Halliburton Energy Services and Cameron International Corp. The other concentration of cases may include securities lawsuits by BP investors who claim company executives hid the rig’s safety problems and committed missteps that led to the spill. Plaintiffs in those cases allege the failure to disclose problems with the well artificially inflated BP’s stock price. BP’s shares have fallen more than 35 percent since the rig exploded in April. ed hardy shoes Seven Judges The seven-judge Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation, created in 1968, must decide whether lawsuits in different federal districts have common factual questions that can be decided once and apply to all cases. The process is designed to streamline the exchange of evidence and avoid duplication. Once pretrial proceedings are completed, the individual cases are sent back for trial in the courts where they were first filed. U.S. officials and many plaintiffs’ attorneys contend New Orleans is the best site for consolidation, noting Louisiana is the closest state to the spill site and has suffered the bulk of environmental damage. Putting the cases in Houston, home to BP’s U.S. headquarters, would be a “cruel irony” for Louisiana victims, said Stephen Herman, a lawyer for Louisiana residents suing over the spill’s fallout, in a May court filing. ed hardy clothing Eight federal judges in New Orleans and surrounding courts have already recused themselves from spill cases because of potential conflicts of interest, BP noted in court papers. Houston Judge BP officials want the cases sent to U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes in Houston, according to court filings. The judge has lectured for an oilfield industry professional group that pays his travel expenses, according to filings obtained from the Judicial Watch website. The judge declined in an e-mail this year to discuss any potential conflicts in the oil-spill cases. ed hardy swim trunks To address the conflict issue, some plaintiffs’ lawyers have suggested in court papers that U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin in New York, who has a background in environmental litigation, go to New Orleans to oversee the litigation. Others suggested a retired judge who could focus solely on the spill cases without the burden of a regular caseload. The government’s decision to line up behind New Orleans doesn’t carry any more official weight than any other party’s recommendation, said Adam Steinman, a law professor at Seton Hall University who teaches complex litigation. He added that it’s rare for U.S. officials to express a preference for where to consolidate mass-tort cases. The main MDL case is In Re Oil Spill by the Oil Rig “Deepwater Horizon” in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010, MDL Docket No. 2179. To contact the reporters on this story: Jef Feeley in Boise, Idaho, at jfeeley@bloomberg.net; Laurel Brubaker Calkins in Houston at laurel@calkins.us.com. vibram five fingers shoes

SEATTLE (AP)—Tod Leiweke resigned as CEO of Paul Allen’s Vulcan Sports and Entertainment on Monday, leaving the arm that oversees ownership of the Seattle Seahawks, Portland Trail Blazers and Seattle Sounders FC just days before the Seahawks begin training camp. Leiweke is leaving the Pacific Northwest after seven years, jumping at the opportunity to become a part-owner and oversee the daily operations of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning. For the 50-year-old executive, the chance to return to hockey and have a stake in the franchise outweighed his current position overseeing three organizations under one umbrella. ADVERTISEMENTed hardy shoes “This was a hard decision. I was trying to tell my kids you get to a certain point in life where a dream comes true and that dream as a lifelong hockey fan was a chance to work with this great guy in Jeff Vinik, and Steve Yzerman and be a minority owner,” Leiweke said at an afternoon news conference. “With that dream came some asterisks and the asterisk is I’ve given this place everything I’ve had and we’ve built something special here and walking away from that, those are the things that do keep you awake at night.” Leiweke plans to stay with Vulcan until his replacement is found, then take over running the day-to-day operations of the NHL franchise recently purchased by Vinik. He said the process of finding his replacement could take months and he will be actively involved in determining who takes over. ed hardy clothing “I think this is going to be one of the highly coveted jobs in all of sports,” Leiweke said. “This isn’t a reclamation project, it isn’t a turn-around project … it’s a chance to go find somebody who can take it and push it to a whole different level.” Leiweke came to the Seahawks in 2003 and helped steer the franchise during the best run in its history. Seattle won four straight NFC West titles and made the playoffs in each of the first five season with Leiweke overseeing the team. The high point came in 2005 when Seattle won its first conference championship and played in the first Super Bowl in franchise history. Former Seattle coach Mike Holmgren called Leiweke the best hire the organization made during his 10 seasons as Seahawks coach.ed hardy swim trunks “Tod has been a leader for our sports teams. He helped lead the Seahawks to the 2005 NFC Championship and our first Super Bowl,” Allen said in a statement. “He also understands our priority on the fans, reinvigorating the 12th Man tradition and leading the team to a five-season string of sellout crowds.” Leiweke was named CEO of Vulcan Sports and Entertainment in 2007, overseeing operation of the Trail Blazers and leading the startup of the Sounders that culminated in their highly successful first year in 2009. But it’s been a difficult final year overseeing the three organizations. Seattle went 5-11 last season, then fired Jim Mora after just one year as head coach. Leiweke then was at the point of negotiations with Pete Carroll, who became the Seahawks’ coach in January. It was his final major move as CEO of the Seahawks. Leiweke was also wrapped up in drama a few hours south in Portland with the Trail Blazers. Kevin Pritchard was fired as general manager on the day of the NBA draft last month after falling out of favor with Allen. Pritchard had been widely lauded for transforming the “Jail Blazers” of just a few years back. ed hardy caps “Not to say the past year was easy, it was hard, but I wouldn’t put it in the same category as some of the other things,” Leiweke said. Before joining the Seahawks, Leiweke worked for the Minnesota Wild and Vancouver Canucks in the NHL. His brother, Tim Leiweke, is the president and CEO of Anschutz Entertainment Group, which owns the Los Angeles Kings and Los Angeles Galaxy. “I’m sorry to see him go, but I know hockey is his first love,” Allen said. Andre Reed Jersey