Lawyers routinely battle each other, representing the conflicting interests of plaintiffs and defendants. But lately in the vast tangle of federal litigation over last year’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill, lawyers on the same side — for the plaintiffs — are fighting one another.

The current conflict pits members of the steering committee and their allies against a dissident faction of lawyers, many of whom are looking to settle their cases before trial.

The steering committee of plaintiffs’ lawyers was appointed last year by Judge Carl J. Barbier of United States District Court in New Orleans from more than 100 applicants to manage their side of the litigation.

In the sprawling form of lawsuit known as multidistrict litigation, members of steering committees tend to gain large fees, and this fact alone often creates tensions between those on the inside and those on the outside.