In re BP p.l.c. Securities Litigation (BP p.l.c.- Deepwater Horizon)

Labaton Sucharow is prosecuting five novel shareholder lawsuits in federal district court in Houston, Texas against BP p.l.c. concerning the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The actions allege that BP and related defendants made materially false and misleading statements and omissions before and after the Deepwater Horizon blowout and explosion on April 20, 2010, which killed 11 men on the rig and caused the worst oil spill in U.S. history. The actions have been brought on behalf of U.S. and international clients of the Firm whose claims were dismissed from the securities class action because their BP securities were purchased outside the U.S., and thus ran afoul of the Morrison rule that excludes class claims based on shares purchased on foreign exchanges. The plaintiffs allege damages in connection with BP Ordinary Shares traded on the London Stock Exchange and BP American Depository Shares (ADSs) traded on the New York Stock Exchange and assert, in additional to federal securities law claims, common law claims for deceit (i.e., fraud) under the law of England and Wales.

These cases, which are coordinated together with other individual lawsuits under the multidistrict litigation, In re BP p.l.c. Securities Litigation, No. 10-MD-2185 (S.D. Tex.), are:

• Houston Municipal Employees Pension System v. BP, plc, No. 12-cv-03714 (S.D. Tex.)
• Avalon Holdings, Inc. v. BP, plc, No. 12-cv-03715 (S.D. Tex.)
• Arkansas Teacher Retirement System v. BP p.l.c., No. 14-cv-00457 (S.D. Tex.)
• Illinois State Board of Investment v. BP p.l.c., No. 14-cv-01075 (S.D. Tex.)
• Virginia Retirement System v. BP p.l.c., No. 14-cv-01085 (S.D. Tex.).

The defendants moved to dismiss the actions on September 28, 2016. On July 13, 2017 the court denied in part and granted in part the defendants motion. The actions are currently at the fact discovery stage, which is scheduled to end in August 2019.

The Firm’s clients in the five cases are the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Cumbria County Council, the Employees' Retirement System of the State of Hawaii, the Houston Municipal Employees’ Pension System, the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, the Illinois State Board of Investment, the Indiana Public Retirement System, John Hancock Funds II, John Hancock Funds III, John Hancock Tax Advantaged Global Shareholder Yield Fund, John Hancock Variable Insurance Trust, Lincolnshire County Council, Municipal Employees’ Retirement System of Michigan, the Nebraska Investment Council, Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co., Northwestern Mutual Series Fund, Ontario Pension Board, the Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho, the Public School and Education Employee Retirement Systems of Missouri, Shell Pension Trust, Shell Pensions Trust Ltd., as Trustee for the Shell Contributory Pension Fund, Shell Trust (Bermuda) Ltd., as Trustee for the Shell International Pensions Fund, Shell Trust (Bermuda) Ltd., as Trustee for the Shell Overseas Contributory Pension Fund, Stichting Shell Pensioenfonds, Utah Retirement Systems, and the Virginia Retirement System. The defendants in the cases are BP p.l.c., BP America, Inc., BP Exploration & Production, Inc., and multiple current and former directors and senior executives.