BP

Berman Tabacco was co-lead counsel representing co-lead plaintiff the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System. Lead plaintiffs reached a $175 million settlement to resolve claims brought on behalf of a class of investors who purchased BP’s American Depositary Shares between April 26, 2010 and May 28, 2010.  According to Cornerstone Research, this settlement represents one of only four mega securities class action settlements (settlements of $100 million or more) in 2017.  The action alleged that BP and two of its former officers made false and misleading statements regarding the severity of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. More specifically, plaintiffs alleged that BP misrepresented that its best estimate of the oil spill flow rate was from 1,000 to 5,000 barrels of oil per day, when internal BP estimates showed substantially higher potential flow rates. On February 13, 2017, the court granted final approval of the settlement, ending more than six years of hard-fought litigation that included extensive fact and expert discovery, multiple rounds of briefing on defendants’ motions to dismiss, two rounds of briefing on class certification, a successful defense of BP’s appeal of the district court’s class certification decision and briefing on cross-motions for summary judgment.