After the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in April 2010, it soon became clear that the oil gushing out of the blown-out well could amount to one of the worst environmental disasters the country had ever seen. The sheer volume and scope of BP’s oil spill almost guaranteed that it would continue to harm the Gulf Coast for a long time to come. We’ve heard about the ecological destruction, the illness, the out-of-work fishermen and charter boat operators, the shuttered seafood distributors and restaurants, the struggling tourism industry, and greatly diminished revenues. Now, tens of thousands of Gulf Coast residents will be harmed yet again in the form of major home value losses.

After five long months fraught with anxiety and stress, Gulf Coast residents finally heard some uplifting news: the blown-out well that threatens to destroy their health, businesses, way of life, and communities with massive clumps of sticky oil has been permanently sealed. But as BP's stocks rise and the rest of the world starts to look beyond the environmental disaster, residents of coastal Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, and Mississippi will be left dealing with the spill's aftermath for years to come.

In this video, Beasley Allen shareholder Gibson Vance, who is currently serving as President of the American Association for Justice, discusses legal issues surrounding the BP oil spill, including legislation currently in Congress, and how those on the Gulf Coast will seek recourse for the damage.

MONTGOMERY, ALA. (September 9, 2010)  – Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C. has filed a lawsuit on behalf of several cities for losses in revenue as a result of the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. The suit is the first to be filed by cities that are not on the Gulf Coast but have suffered revenue losses. The suit is filed in the U.S. District Court of the Middle District of Alabama on behalf of Greenville, Evergreen, Georgiana, and McKenzie, Alabama, as they have had to weather a significant decrease in tourist traffic to the Gulf coast in their highest season.  The suit alleges negligence, and damages under the Oil Pollution Act. Defendants named in the suit are BP, Transocean, Anadarko, Mitsui, Moex Offshore 2007, Halliburton, Cameron International, and M-I.  Attorneys representing the Plaintiffs are Jere L. Beasley and  Rhon Jones of Beasley Allen, as well as Richard Hartley of Hartley & Hickman.

BP Plc will face hundreds of lawsuits over the Deepwater Horizon disaster in federal court in New Orleans, a panel of judges ordered, a victory for plaintiffs seeking billions of dollars in damages for the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has sent a letter to U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen requesting his help in communicating the agency's "growing concern over significant deficiencies in BP's oil response operations related to worker safety." In the letter, David Michaels, the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, said that the oil giant's failures to adequately protect workers involved in the oil spill cleanup efforts pose "potentially grave consequences" for their health.

A federal judge in Mobile, Ala., denied a request by BP PLC to stay two lawsuits filed by Beasley Allen on behalf of companies that are being adversely affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Judge Kristi K. DuBose of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama denied BP's motion to stay a lawsuit brought by Bon Secour Fisheries, Inc. of Bon Secour, Alabama, a seafood processor and distributor. DuNose ruled that a stay would be premature and that BP should answer the complaint now because it will have to eventually answer at some point.

BP says that it has doled out $29 million to Gulf Coast residents and workers who claim the seemingly unstoppable oil spill has dealt them an economic blow. At the same time, the oil giant is also actively working to block an attempt by some fishermen to have a federal judge oversee the company's claims process.

In court documents submitted by BP, the company says that it has not denied any claims to date, many of which come from fishermen and shrimpers. The federal government has closed 19 percent of the Gulf of Mexico (about 46,000 square miles) to fishing. Shrimping season on the Gulf was set to begin just after the Deepwater Horizon exploded nearly six weeks ago.