MIAMI – More than 100 lawsuits filed against BP and other companies involved in the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill should be combined quickly in a single federal court to avoid legal chaos and delay payment of billions of dollars in damages, an attorney said Wednesday.

Louisiana lawyer Daniel Becnel asked a federal judicial panel in Washington state to order the lawsuits pending in five Gulf Coast states be centralized in New Orleans or a federal court elsewhere in Louisiana, the state so far hit hardest by the spill. There are currently about 130 lawsuits, although that list grows each day.

The panel, formally known as the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, earlier this month said it would not decide on consolidation of oil spill cases until July, but Becnel wants them to reconsider that decision.

Meanwhile, at least eight federal judges have already held hearings on oil spill cases in Louisiana and Texas, with some having to step aside because of conflicts such as family ownership of company stock.

At the same time, environmental groups have sued the federal government, claiming lax regulations and special exemptions contributed to the BP PLC spill and are an ongoing threat for future offshore drilling.

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