Watts v. BP Exploration & Production, Inc. ( 2022 )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA DEREK RAPHAEL WATTS CIVIL ACTION VERSUS NO. 17-4627 BP EXPLORATION & SECTION M (2) PRODUCTION INC., et al. ORDER & REASONS Before the Court is a motion by plaintiff Derek Raphael Watts to disqualify the undersigned from these proceedings.1 The same motion has been filed and fully briefed in many other B3 cases allotted to this section of court. Having considered the parties’ memoranda, the record, and the applicable law, the Court denies the motion for the reasons articulated at length in the Order & Reasons issued in Carpenter v. BP Exploration & Production Inc., 2022 WL 2800014 (E.D. La. July 14, 2022), because there is no actual conflict of interest or appearance of impropriety, and the motion was untimely filed. A judge has an affirmative duty not to disqualify himself or herself unnecessarily, and because Watts raises no compelling or persuasive grounds for disqualification here, it is unnecessary and, indeed, would be improper for the undersigned to do so. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that Watts’s motion to disqualify (R. Doc. 43) is DENIED. New Orleans, Louisiana, this 19th day of August, 2022. ________________________________ BARRY W. ASHE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 1 R. Doc. 43.