The massive leak at an oil well in the Gulf of Mexico hasn’t just been a challenge for the engineers at BP p.l.c. The staff attorneys at the London-based company have also been called upon to respond to the disaster. One lawyer who’s playing a key role is John Lynch, the company’s U.S. general counsel. Lynch, who works out of BP’s Houston office, has been talking with attorneys general from the Gulf Coast states as they’ve pressed the company about its legal and financial responsibilities.
The conversation began on May 5, when top lawyers at the companies involved in the disaster received a terse message from the AGs: Put it in writing. In letters to BP, Halliburton Energy Services, Inc., Transocean Holdings Incorporated, and Cameron International Corporation, the AGs said they wanted written statements that the companies will pay for their states’ cleanup costs, which could eventually reach almost $1 billion. The letters were signed by James Caldwell of Louisiana, Jim Hood of Mississippi, Troy King of Alabama, Bill McCollum of Florida, and Greg Abbott of Texas.
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