Kirkland & Ellis and Covington & Burling have filed a motion on behalf of BP calling for a retrial or a revised judgment on a court ruling that found the oil giant had acted with gross negligence over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster.

BP is arguing that Judge Carl Barbier, who presided over the civil case surrounding the oil spill, reached the finding by relying on expert witness opinions that had been excluded from evidence at trial.

The petrochemical company is facing a penalty of up to $18bn (