ATTORNEY BRENT COON TO ARGUE BEFORE TEXAS SUPREME COURT FOR RIGHT TO DEPOSE FORMER BP CEO LORD JOHN BROWNE

Austin, TX (October 17, 2007) – Attorney Brent Coon, of Brent Coon & Associates, will argue before the Texas State Supreme Court for the right to depose Lord John Browne, the former CEO of British Petroleum (NYSE: BP), on Thursday, October 18, beginning at approximately 10:30 A.M.

“For over a year, we have tried to depose Lord Browne about the executive decisions and cost cuts he personally made that led to the fatal explosion at Texas City. BP’s lawyers consistently resisted,” said Brent Coon. “It truly boggles that a company where Lord Browne is – presumably – no longer on the payroll continues to try and protect him. Regardless of what his lawyers think, or what his friends in the oil industry think, we firmly believe that Lord Browne, like any other party to such a horrific tragedy, has to answer for his company’s misdeeds.

“Fifteen people died at Texas City, and Lord Browne needs to stop hiding behind executive privilege and account for those deaths. It is our hope that the Texas Supreme Court will see things our way and allow us to put Lord Browne under oath,” Coon concluded.

Lord Browne was forced to resign from his post earlier this year; two years after an explosion at BP’s Texas City refinery killed 15 workers and injured hundreds of others.

Background on the Attempts to Depose Lord John Browne

The original subpoena was issued as part of the discovery process for the case of Eva Rowe v BP Amoco Chemical Company, BP Amoco Polymers, BP Corporation North America, Don Parus and J.E. Merit Contractors, Inc. The lawsuit was filed as a result of the death of Ms. Rowe’s parents in the BP Texas City explosion on March 23, 2005. The suit was settled on November 9, 2006. While additional lawsuits vs. BP have been resolved, hundreds more remain to be heard.

In August 2006, the Galveston trial court found that Lord Browne was not exempt from the deposition notice and ordered it to proceed. BP challenged the order with a mandamus to the Houston Court of Appeals

The original motion for protection and motion to quash the Browne subpoena was filed by his attorneys with the Houston 1 st District Court of Appeals on October 18, 2006. Browne’s attorneys argued that it was an “unfair inconvenience” to depose a chief executive officer of any corporation and that this was recognized by Texas Law. That mandamus was denied on February 9, 2007.

On February 12, 2007, Brent Coon and Associates renoticed Browne for deposition to take place on February 23, 2007. Then on February 14, 2007 BP petitioned the Texas State Supreme Court to overturn the Court of Appeals ruling.

In the Petition for Writ of Mandamus, attorneys for BP and Browne stated that a deposition would interfere with his duties as CEO and that he held no unique knowledge of the events of March 23, 2005 at the Texas City refinery. Coon has argued that Browne had ordered massive maintenance budget cuts at the Texas City refinery budget and has that he has intimate, and yet to be discovered, knowledge of high level decisions that led to the that explosion. Browne personally oversaw many aspects of the subsequent investigations and frequently found time to talk to the media and others about the incident and BP’s actions as a consequence.

In February 2007, amicus (or “friend of the court”) briefs were filed in support of BP’s Petition for Writ of Mandamus by associations and corporations with a vested interest in protecting immunity for CEO’s.  These groups included the Texas Association of Business – which has a long-standing alliance with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, whose opposition to corporate accountability is well-documented – as well as the Texas Chemical Council, Exxon Mobil, and the Texas Association of Manufacturers.  To see these amicus filings and other documents pertaining to tomorrow’s hearing, visit www.texascityexplosion.com

“It is certainly odd that Browne has found plenty of time the last two years to talk to everyone else about this incident and yet doesn’t have time to talk to us. He just doesn’t do well under oath,” said Mr. Coon in reference to Browne’s perjured statements to a London court earlier this year over a suit involving his young male lover.

About Brent Coon & Associates

Brent Coon & Associates was founded in 2001. Today, with 20 offices around the country, it is one of the largest trial law firms in the nation and the epitome of the 21 st century law practice. Brent Coon & Associates employs over 60 aggressive litigators, with solid experience in individual and complex multi-party, occupational/environmental, health and personal injury cases. The majority of the firm’s cases are referred from attorneys who have confidence in the firm’s integrity, expertise and solid work ethic. For more information, visit www.bcoonlaw.com. The firm serves as lead counsel to numerous legal matters, including the BP Texas City Explosion. For his efforts, Brent Coon received the Steven J. Sharp Award (national trial lawyer of the year) from the American Association of Justice, the Clarence Darrow Award, and the USMFW Humanitarian Award and was named one of Texas’ Super Lawyers for 2007.