Scott Summy of Baron & Budd, P.C. Appointed Co-Lead Counsel on Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee in BP Gulf Oil Spill Litigation

Summy Has Lengthy Track Record Battling BP

DALLAS–Scott Summy, head of Baron & Budd’s water contamination team, is one of four attorneys chosen to serve on the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee for the Gulf Oil Spill Multi-District Litigation (MDL). As Co-Lead Counsel on the Executive Committee, Summy will help coordinate the activities of the concurrently appointed 15-member Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee (PSC).  Summy was also selected to be a member of the PSC.

The interests of multiple plaintiffs in the Gulf Oil Spill were consolidated in August under a MDL in the Eastern District of Louisiana.  The 15 attorneys appointed to the PSC will coordinate the litigation and work together to represent plaintiffs who have filed suit against the companies connected to the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon and subsequent oil spill.

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans announced the appointments last Friday. Over 100 applications, submitted by some of the most prestigious trial attorneys in the nation, were filed with Judge Barbier.

“It’s a tremendous honor to be a member of this distinguished panel,” said Summy. “We’re organizing and will stay on track for a spring 2012 trial.  We will do everything possible to protect the rights of those who have been harmed by this oil spill.”

Summy has a lengthy track record battling BP and a history of leading significant water contamination cases. He served as Co-Lead Counsel and Treasurer of the PSC in the MTBE multi-district litigation. Working on behalf of over 150 public water systems in 17 states whose groundwater was contaminated by MTBE, Summy negotiated over $450 million in settlements to compensate the water providers for their water contamination claims and pay future clean-up costs.

Summy also represented the City of Santa Monica against major oil companies, including BP, in an MTBE water contamination case that successfully settled for an appraised value of $315 million and provided funds for the city to continue buying water for residents until MTBE could be removed from their water supply.

During his practice, Summy has represented approximately 700 plaintiffs in 20 states in cases against BP and represented over 200 public entities, including the State of New Mexico, in dozens of environmental litigation cases around the United States.

A June 2010 article in The National Law Journal recognized Baron & Budd as one of the major national law firms with experience fighting big oil.

About Baron & Budd, P.C.

Dallas-based Baron & Budd, P.C., with offices in Baton Rouge, Austin, Los Angeles and Miami, is a nationally recognized law firm with a 30-year history of “Protecting What’s Right” for people and communities harmed by corporate negligence. Baron & Budd’s size and resources enable the firm to take on large and complex cases. The firm represents individuals, government and business entities in areas as diverse as asbestos-related illnesses, water contamination, Qui Tam, California Proposition 65 violations, pharmaceutical injuries, Chinese drywall, insurance claims and securities fraud. Most recently, the firm has begun to represent individuals and businesses affected by the Gulf Oil Spill. Active in the community, Baron & Budd pledged $3 million over five years to the International Pleural Mesothelioma Program at Brigham Women’s Hospital and has supported the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, Lung Cancer Alliance and other asbestos awareness and advocacy organizations. //baronandbudd.com/

Contacts

Greg Schmalz, Kalligeros Communications, (732) 785-9317, e-mail: gschmalz@kalligeros.com