Contentious oil spill claims set up BP for long legal battle

Faced with hundreds of damage claims it says are fictitious and inflated, BP must decide whether to dive into a protracted legal battle it had sought to avoid when it settled a class action over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The British oil giant asked the Fifth US Circuit of Appeals in New Orleans this week to halt the claims. Should its challenge before the three-judge panel fail, BP will face a choice: ask for a hearing by all the court’s judges, appeal to the US Supreme Court, or try picking off individual cases one by one, legal experts say.

via Business feed http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1280927/contentious-oil-spill-claims-set-bp-long-legal-battle