Phase 1 of the BP trial (to determine liability) has begun today at the federal district courthouse on Poydras Street. The trial was set to begin last January but a settlement was reached with most of the class of private plaintiffs with economic loss claims. The trial was postponed so that the settlement could be effectuated. The case is proceeding under admiralty/maritime jurisdiction which means there is no jury - but rather the case is tried by the judge (Judge Carl Barbier).
The remaining plaintiffs include the federal government (which has claims for damages under the Clean Water Act and for reimbursement and natural resource damages under the Oil Pollution Act), the state governments (Louisiana being the state with the greatest interest and claims), and the private plaintiffs that were not part of the settlement class . . . which includes classes of commercial fishermen.
The defendants (mainly BP, Transocean, and Halliburton) are not truly mounting a liability defense, per se, but rather the central issues are which of them is liable to what extent (they're all blaming each other) and, more importantly, whether the defendants (mainly BP) were grossly negligent - rather than the ordinary variety. This is tremendously important for the computation of damages because a finding of gross negligence, under the law, allows for multipliers and punitive damages to be awarded under the Clean Air Act (for the federal claims) and under the maritime law (for the commercial fishing claims). For instance, the federal claim under the Clean Air Act could be around $4B under ordinary negligence but more than $16B if gross negligence is found.
There is also talk of real movement in settlement negotiations. This makes sense - as the parties will spend a tremendous amount of resources trying this case where liability is certain and the question of gross negligence could be accounted for in the settlement terms. Frankly, I'd be very surprised if a settlement wasn't reached in the next week or two.