Kyrt M. Wentzell, et al. v. BP America, Incorporated, et al.

The district court, in MDL 2179, overseeing master discovery in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill litigation, issued PTO 60; requiring all plaintiffs to re-file each lawsuit directly into the MDL, regardless of whether they were already properly before the Court. The deadlines set out by PTO 60 were impossible to satisfy given the time constraints and concurrent settlement negotiations for tens of thousands of plaintiffs which clearly violated Due Process. As a result, the district court issued a series of rulings over a year’s time clarifying which plaintiffs were deemed “in compliance” with PTO 60. Plaintiff-petitioners requested reconsideration along with similarly situated plaintiffs whose claims had been dismissed by order in July 2017. That November some plaintiffs were deemed to be compliant with PTO 60, and others were not. Those still deemed non-compliant appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. While on appeal, BP took the legal position that the petitioners’ claims had been dismissed in a prior compliance order from 2016. THE QUESTION PRESENTED IS Whether the Court of Appeals erred in holding that the petitioners appeal to the Fifth Circuit was not timely filed.