Arnold & Itkin Seeks Sanctions Against AZA Over ‘Inflammatory’ Media Coverage of Hurricane Zeta Case

Plaintiffs’ lawyers representing about 20 crew workers aboard the Deepwater Asgard drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico when Hurricane Zeta hit in October 2020 have asked a Houston judge to issue sanctions and possibly remove defense attorneys for Transocean Offshore Drilling for a “false and inflammatory” pretrial filing last week that the lawyers say “tainted the jury pool” and “deprived plaintiffs of their right to an impartial jury.”

Attorneys for Arnold & Itkin claim that opposing counsel at Ahmad Zavitsanos & Mensing should be disqualified from the Hurricane Zeta multidistrict litigation against Transocean, Triton Voyager Asset Leasing and BOE Exploration for allegedly violating the pretrial publicity provisions of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct.