The Morning Wrap

Oil Spill: The civil trial against BP PLC over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill is starting on Monday in New Orleans, The Times-Picayune reports.

Sunday Blessing: Speaking at his last Sunday blessing as pope, Benedict XVI told Catholics he won't abandon them when he resigns, The New York Times reports. "On the contrary, if God asks me, this is because I can continue to serve" the church "with the same dedication and the same love which I have tried to do so until now, but in a way more suitable to my age and to my strength," Benedict said.

Sandy Help: Several lawyers in parts of Long Island hit by Hurricane Sandy are applying their expertise to assist their neighbors pro bono, even as they continue to deal with their own challenges, the New York Law Journal reports. "I try to let them know they're not alone," Long Island attorney Tracey Discepolo said. "I'm in the same boat."

New Plates: D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray (D) has ordered that city license plates say "District of Columbia," not "Washington, D.C.," The Washington Post reports. “Under the charter that establishes Home Rule in the District, we are the District of Columbia, and the plates should match that,” said Pedro Ribeiro, a Gray spokesman. "This is the District of Columbia, and to a lot of folks, in their minds, that is what we are: We are D.C."

'Evil' Yankees: A panel of trademark judges in Washington sided with the New York Yankees in their effort to stop a private entrepreneur from registering the trademark for the phrase "Baseballs Evil Empire," The Wall Street Journal reports. "In short, the record shows that there is only one Evil Empire in baseball and it is the New York Yankees," wrote the judges. "Accordingly, we find that [the Yankees] have a protectable trademark right in the term ... as used in connection with baseball."