The company that owns the now-sunken drilling rig oozing oil into the Gulf of Mexico is counting on a 150-year-old maritime law to limit its damages. To a mere $26.7 million.

That's how much Transocean Ltd. said it should pay in a motion filed on Thursday in federal court in the Southern District of Texas. Citing an 1851 law aimed at shipping mishaps, Transocean said its damages should be limited to $26.7 million in unpaid drilling fees earned before the April 20 explosion, noting the Deepwater Horizon rig is otherwise worth nothing now.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (Legal Newsline) - Heavyweight Alabama trial lawyer Jere Beasley is among those filing lawsuits over an explosion and oil spill at an offshore drilling site owned by BP.

(MONTGOMERY)— Alabama Attorney General Troy King traveled to Jackson, Mississippi, yesterday for a meeting of the Gulf Coast States Attorneys General with Mr. Jack Lynch, Senior General Counsel for the United States for British Petroleum.

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, May 10, 2010 (ENS) - The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is keeping lawyers busy. At least half a dozen class action lawsuits have been filed on behalf of fishermen, shrimpers, restaurant owners, real estate brokers, property owners, and other Gulf coast residents affected by the oil a day flowing for the past two weeks from the wellhead left uncapped by the explosion and sinking of the oil rig Deepwater Horizon in April.

The defendants in all these lawsuits include various divisions of oil giant BP, formerly British Petroleum, which is considered the responsible party in this incident; Transocean, Ltd., the owners/operators of the Deepwater Horizon; Halliburton Energy, which was involved in "cementing" operations to cap the oil rig when the explosion occurred; and Cameron International Corporation, manufacturers of the rig's blow-out-preventers, which failed to operate properly and prevent the oil spill.

Drill, baby, drill is turning into sue, baby, sue. Class-action lawsuits against operators of the exploded Gulf of Mexico oil rig multiplied Friday as the oil began washing onto Louisiana shores. Commercial fisherman, shrimpers, charter-boat operators and beachfront property owners began signing up as plaintiffs in at least 18 proposed suits already filed in courthouses from Texas to Florida. More court actions were expected.

Toyota Motor Corp.'s legal problems aren't limited to the federal multidistrict litigation over unintended acceleration of its vehicles. Scores of lawsuits are working their way through state courts across the nation, and some of those cases could pave the road for the MDL.

The first hearing in the MDL won't take place until later this month, but some lawyers with cases pending in various state courts already have begun deposing Toyota executives.

Toyota has routinely engaged in questionable, evasive and deceptive legal tactics when sued, frequently claiming it does not have information it is required to turn over and sometimes even ignoring court orders to produce key documents, an Associated Press investigation shows.

In a review of lawsuits filed around the country involving a wide range of complaints — not just the sudden acceleration problems that have led to millions of Toyotas being recalled — the automaker has hidden the existence of tests that would be harmful to its legal position and claimed key material was difficult to get at its headquarters in Japan. It has withheld potentially damaging documents and refused to release data stored electronically in its vehicles.

Nearly 200 lawsuits have been filed so far in federal and state courts throughout the country. The litigation involves both individual personal injury suits and consumer class actions filed on behalf of Toyota owners who claim that the value of their vehicles has been battered by concerns about sudden unintended acceleration.