Patrick Juneau, the 75-year-old lawyer in charge of overseeing London-based oil and gas giant BP’s settlement with the businesses and individuals affected by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon blowout and oil spill, stated recently that he wouldn’t be surprised if the number of claims reaches upwards of 200,000.

Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Marianne Battani sentenced a couple from Michigan to jail in U.S. District Court in Detroit for charges related to stealing trade secrets from General Motors (GM).

On April 19, the Government Accountability Project (GAP) released a report that examines the potential health issues that individuals who assisted with the BP oil spill cleanup efforts have experienced, which suggests that there will likely be additional legal action taken against BP.

On April 24, following a two-week trial in San Francisco, a federal jury in the Northern District of California convicted a former corporate executive recruiter at Korn/Ferry International – a premier provider of talent management solutions – on six trade secret-related counts.

On Thursday, May 2, BP announced in a statement that it would fund a number of proposed Gulf restoration projects in Texas totaling $18 million.

News about the trial itself has slowed at the moment, but it’s important not to forget about the lasting impact the incident has had – not just on businesses and individuals directly affected by it, but on the environment, too.

According to an April 22 article from Reuters, legal experts have suggested that by opting to go to trial with a number of plaintiffs after failing to settle claims with small businesses and the U.S. government through negotiations, BP could have saved itself tens of billions of dollars.

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier, who is tasked with determining who was responsible for the Deepwater Horizon blowout and oil spill that killed 11 people and caused one of the worst environmental disasters in history, has given lawyers on both sides two months to submit reports summarizing their opinions about the evidence presented in court.

The first phase of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill trial, which began on February 25, came to a close on Wednesday, April 18.

Adam “Ted” Bourgoyne Jr., a retired Louisiana State University professor and drilling operations expert, told U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier that BP’s crew followed “normal industry practices” while working on the ill-fated Mocando well, reports The Christian Science Monitor.