Client_News

Houston Business Journal:

Donald Godwin of Godwin Ronquillo PC is representing Halliburton Co. in litigation over the Gulf of Mexico rig blast in April 2010 that killed 11 workers and triggered the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

BP Plc, Halliburton and others are locked in litigation over whose actions caused the Macondo well to explode off the Louisiana coast. The trial starts Feb. 27 before U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier of New Orleans.

BP and Halliburton’s disagreement centers around the cement job Halliburton provided to seal the well against leaks, based on BP’s design specifications. Halliburton used a cement formulation that BP claims wasn’t right for the Macondo formation. Halliburton maintains BP provided flawed information.

Godwin, Halliburton’s lead trial lawyer who is based in Dallas, recently talked about his months of preparation leading to the trial with Dallas Business Journal law reporter Bill Hethcock.

Godwin says the preparation was “all-consuming,” but that he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I love what I do,” Godwin said. “I have a passion for representing companies and individuals who have significant issues being presented to courts and juries where substantial amounts of monies are involved.”

Don Godwin of Godwin Ronquillo profiled in Houston Business Journal

Bring me up to speed on the BP/Halliburton case.

It’s unbelievable the amount of time my team and I are spending both in Dallas and Houston. In 2011, my firm and I took about 230 depositions in London, Houston and New Orleans, and we’re still going at it hard. The trial starts in February.

How many plaintiffs are involved in this litigation?

....

What will be your biggest challenge with this case?

It’s a very complex case involving millions of documents. The biggest challenge will be the marshaling of the facts in this very complex litigation while maintaining a working knowledge of the millions of documents that have been produced in discovery from the various parties.

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/print-edition/2012/01/20/halliburton-attorney-holds-court-on.html

© 2012 American City Business Journals, Inc.