"The Justice Department on Wednesday is expected to seek to join civil lawsuits stemming from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the first major federal legal action in the disaster, according to people familiar with the matter.

By joining the private litigation, Justice Department lawyers are positioning themselves to play a major role in the coming litigation, including depositions of key witnesses. That could aid the government's continuing probe into the disaster aimed at building a civil and possibly a criminal case against the companies involved, these people said.

The Justice Department declined to comment, as did BP PLC, which owned the blown out well."

Evan Perez and Dionne Searcey report for the Wall St. Journal December 15, 2010. [2]