Gov. Charlie Crist appointed prominent Tampa lawyer Steve Yerrid as special counsel to advise him on legal issues relating to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Yerrid, who defended a harbor pilot in the 1980 Sunshine Skyway collapse and has won multiple high-profile lawsuits, will help Crist develop strategies and negotiate with BP as the state deals with potentially disastrous damage to its shoreline and waters.

Yerrid, who is doing the work for free, was also part of the Florida legal team that successfully negotiated an $11 billion settlement with the tobacco industry in 1997.

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