The commercial fishing plaintiffs in the Exxon Valdez litigation, after years of complaining about the delays created by ExxonMobil’s appeals, are now creating further delays by fighting amongst themselves over the distribution of the punitive damages award.

Back in August, ExxonMobil agreed to pay a portion of the punitive damages award ($383 million). The money is set to be distributed under a plan devised by the district court back in 1996, but one of the plaintiffs,Sea Hawk Seafoods, Inc., a Seattle-based corporation that ran a processing plant in Valdez, has now filed a lawsuit to challenge that plan. You can read the details in the Anchorage Daily News.

Hat tip: TortsProf Blog.