Readers who want to watch the proceedings of the "Oil Spill By The Oil Rig Deepwater Horizon In The Gulf Of Mexico On April 20, 2010" trial can simply show up at Court.
One must get there very early, 7 a.m., and then walk over to one of the "overflow" rooms, though. These are C-311 in the courthouse building or, in the Hale Boggs Federal building, room B-407. The proceedings are obviously very crowded and no one is guaranteed a seat. Judge Carl Barbier starts at 8 a.m. Monday through Thursday, wrapping up at 6 p.m. The week before Easter, Court will only be in session Monday through Wednesday.
For those who can't make it to the trial and/or also want to follow proceedings, you can obtain transcripts during or at the end of the day. Real-time transcripts are only available to credentialed press and require a fee. More on that in the judge's Order on access for the public and press here.
The Plaintiffs' Steering Committee has set up a web site where transcripts are freely available. Please click here. As of today, transcripts are available for seven days.
Obviously, news outlets worldwide are covering the trial and most readers will have already followed these stories. The best are coming from reporters such as Mark Schleifstein with the Times-Picayune/NOLA.com, whose Twitter feed you can follow at @MSchleifstein or David Hammer, formerly with the Times-Pic and now with WWLTV, at @davidhammerWWL.
Keep checking this space for coverage by the Examiner. Follow me on Twitter at @WriterWeegs.
The Courthouse is at 500 Poydras Street, Room C256 in New Orleans.
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