BP Oil Spill: Compensation, Agency Costs, and Restitution

68 Washington & Lee University Law Rev. 1341 (2011)

37 Pages Posted: 8 Mar 2018

See all articles by David F. Partlett

David F. Partlett

Emory University School of Law

Russell L. Weaver

University of Louisville - Louis D. Brandeis School of Law

Date Written: June 11, 2011

Abstract

The British Petroleum (BP) Oil Spill and Restitution are irresistible topics for exploration. Just as systems errors combined to cause the disaster m the Gulf of Mexico, the most human of institutions, the law, has struggled to find a proper way to respond. After the blowout, BP struggled to find a solution to an ongoing disaster of immense proportions. Over the next six months, before BP was finally able to seal the deepwater well, more than four million barrels of oil gushed into the Gulf of Mexico, coating the ocean floor with oil, drenching birds and other wildlife in oil, and depositing oil and tar balls on the beaches of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. Responding to this unprecedented disaster, the press bayed, victims cried for relief, and the wider American public was galvanized to demand "justice," "retribution," and "accountability."

Suggested Citation

Partlett, David F. and Weaver, Russell L., BP Oil Spill: Compensation, Agency Costs, and Restitution (June 11, 2011). 68 Washington & Lee University Law Rev. 1341 (2011), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2473613

David F. Partlett (Contact Author)

Emory University School of Law ( email )

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Atlanta, GA 30322
United States
404-712-8815 (Phone)

Russell L. Weaver

University of Louisville - Louis D. Brandeis School of Law ( email )

Wilson W. Wyatt Hall
Louisville, KY 40292
United States
502-852-6559 (Phone)
502-852-0862 (Fax)

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