Hogan Lovells and Leigh Day act as Shell reaches £55m oil spill settlement
Oil giant ends three year legal battle with £55m payout to Nigeria community devastated by two spills.
January 07, 2015 at 06:22 AM
2 minute read
Hogan Lovells and Leigh Day have advised as Royal Dutch Shell reached a £55m settlement with Nigerian fishermen and their community impacted by two large oil spills in 2008 and 2009.
The three year legal battle came to a close with the oil giant agreeing compensation payouts averaging £2,000 each to 15,600 fishermen and members of the community impacted by the spills in the Bodo region of the Niger Delta.
In addition to £35m in compensation to individuals, the community will receive £20m, with Leigh Day stating that the payout is thought to be one of the largest ever made to a community for environmental damage.
Hogan Lovells represented Shell fielding a team led by London litigation partner and head of the firm's international product liability network John Meltzer.In 2010, the firm won a spot on Shell's global panel to advise on dispute resolution matters. This global roster was subsequently replaced with a separate lineup of firms in each of the company's key jurisdictions.
Leigh Day advised the Nigerian community led by senior partner Martyn Day, with today's (7 January) settlement announcement coming ahead of a full trial planned for early 2015. Leigh Day had begun legal action in the High Court in March 2012 after talks broke down over compensation and a clean up package for the community, following the devastating spills in 2008 and 2009.According to Leigh Day, Shell had originally offered £4,000 compensation to the entire Bodo community before the villagers sought legal representation from lawyers in London.
"We came to a provisional agreement with Shell just before Christmas" said Day. "In the week before Christmas I personally met with around 800 clients and I don't think I have ever seen a happier bunch of people. Every single one of the clients we met has said yes to the deal."
"Whilst we are delighted for our clients, and pleased that Shell has done the decent thing I have to say that it is deeply disappointing that Shell took six years to take this case seriously and to recognise the true extent of the damage these spills caused to the environment and to the those who rely on it for their livelihood.
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