BP Oil Spill Litigation Continues

by Michael J. Evans on November 17, 2011

in Attorneys,Legal,Oil Spill Lawsuits

Gulf Oil Spill Lawsuits Continue – Litigation Update for Alabama Lawyers on Nov. 18, 2011

I spent today at a Legal Strategies Conference in Montgomery, AL. The Beasley Allen law firm, headquartered in Montgomery, hosted the conference. Beasley Allen is one of several law firms that has made a huge commitment of time and money to representing businesses and workers who suffered financial harm due to the BP oil spill.

Lawyers who represent plaintiffs in lawsuits against corporations are often criticized by corporations which want to evade the financial responsibility for their unlawful conduct. BP is attempting to do that here, and without law firms willing to commit substantial resources to represent their clients, small businesses and workers harmed by the Gulf oil spill would simply be at the mercy of British Petroleum.

Rhon Jones, head of the Toxic Tort Section at Beasley Allen, will be speaking about the BP lawsuits tomorrow. I’ll try to follow up soon with a post based on the latest information provided by Jones.

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Gulf Coast Oil Spill Claims – November 2011 Update on BP Claims Filed With Gulf Coast Claims Facility

by Michael J. Evans on November 3, 2011

in Oil Spill Claims

BP Claims Are Backlogged

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m an attorney who represents a number of clients with BP oil spill claims.  Unfortunately, Kenneth Feinberg and the Gulf Coast Claims Facility have turned out to be a big disappointment to many people with BP claims for money lost due to the Gulf oil spill.

Gulf Coast Claims Facility Performance Falls Short of Promises Made by Kenneth Feinberg

The Gulf Coast Claims Facility, or GCCF, appears to be almost hopelessly bogged down reviewing hundreds of thousands of Gulf oil spill claims. The GCCF has gotten rid of several hundred thousand oil spill claims, but these were almost all quick, small settlements. Some people who took these oil spill settlements were in such terrible financial shape that they felt they didn’t have any choice other than to accept the offer made by the Gulf Coast Claims Facility. It has become clear that the GCCF is not going to fully and quickly pay BP claims, as Kenneth Feinberg promised the people of the Gulf Coast.

Gulf Oil Spill Claims by Businesses Are Being Greatly Delayed

People with substantial business claims for Gulf oil spill losses may want to consider making final demands to the Gulf Coast Claims Facility.  Under the Oil Pollution Act, when an oil spill occurs, the “responsible party” is required to make an offer to a person who lost money because of the spill. The responsibility party is required under the Oil Pollution Act to make the offer within 90 days of receiving a final demand on an oil spill claim.

BP is certainly a “responsible party” for the Gulf oil spill. Kenneth Feinberg and the Gulf Coast Claims Facility are acting on behalf of BP. Although there are no guarantees that a person or business which files a final claim will get a response within 90 days, it is a course of action that you may wish to discuss with your attorney.

Oil Spill Losses By Businesses Can Be Documented By Forensic Accounting Firms

I’m working with an alliance of law firms representing people and businesses with BP claims. Our alliance is headed by Texas attorney Brent Coon of Brent Coon & Associates (BCA). BCA has offices in most of the Gulf Coast states. I’ve been impressed with the job BCA and the other firms in our group are doing. We’ve hired forensic accounting firms which are experienced in calculating business losses and providing evidence to prove the amount of those losses.

Many people and businesses use tax preparers or accounting firms which are familiar with tax issues and deductible expenses. Some who are familiar with tax laws may not be aware of all the losses that a business has suffered and will continue to suffer in the future due to the BP oil spill. If you believe you have suffered substantial losses but don’t have a person who can calculate those losses, you may wish to consider talking with a forensic accounting firm or a law firm handling BP claims.

Bankruptcy Issues

I want to make one final point. Some people have lost their businesses or jobs due to the Gulf oil spill. They may be considering filing bankruptcy due to their destitute financial condition. These people may wish to ask their bankruptcy attorney to consider filing a BP claim for them, or they may wish to ask their attorney to talk with a law firm which handles BP claims. Some may be forced to file for bankruptcy. But it doesn’t seem fair that BP should be allowed to put people and businesses in bankruptcy without paying for the damage its oil spill caused.

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Furious Growth and Cost Cuts Led To BP Accidents Past and Present

by Abrahm Lustgarten on October 29, 2010

in BP oil spill

by Abrahm Lustgarten ProPublica, Oct. 26, 2010, 11:32 a.m.

Jeanne Pascal turned on her TV April 21 to see a towering spindle of black smoke slithering into the sky from an oil platform on the oceanic expanse of the Gulf of Mexico. For hours she sat, transfixed on an overstuffed couch in her Seattle home, her feelings shifting from shock to anger.

Pascal, a career Environmental Protection Agency attorney only seven weeks into her retirement, knew as much as anyone in the federal government about BP, the company that owned the well. She understood in an instant what it would take others months to grasp: In BP’s 15-year quest to compete with the world’s biggest oil companies, its managers had become deaf to risk and systematically gambled with safety at hundreds of facilities and with thousands of employees’ lives.

“God, they just don’t learn,” she remembers thinking.

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Federal Inspectors Clueless About Cementing, Oil Spill Panel Finds

by Marian Wang on October 29, 2010

in BP oil spill

by Marian Wang ProPublica, Oct. 29, 2010, 12:43 p.m.

On October 28, the government’s oil spill panel released a letter alleging that Halliburton knew of potential flaws in its cementprior to the Deepwater Horizon blowout. That same spill commission, in a little-noticed report by the New Orleans Times-Picayune, had earlier this week criticized government inspectors for their lack of knowledge about how to safely cement an offshore well.

“When we asked about cementing and centralizers, they said very freely, ‘We don’t know about that stuff; we have to trust the companies,’” the commission’s co-chairman, William Reilly, told the Times-Picayune. “All they get is on-the-job training. It really is fairly startling, considering how sophisticated the industry has become.”

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Gulf Spill Victims’ ‘Escalated’ Claims Still Languishing

by Sasha Chavkin on October 26, 2010

in BP Claims

By Sasha Chavkin ProPublica, Oct. 25, 2010, 11:38 a.m.

Claimants seeking compensation for the Gulf oil spill who can demonstrate financial need may have their claims “escalated”–selected for prompt processing–by paymaster Kenneth Feinberg’s operation. But some applicants are experiencing long waits even after being told their claims had been expedited. Eleven claimants told ProPublica that despite their claims being escalated, they are still waiting for a decision weeks later. Six of these claimants have been waiting for more than a month.

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BP Claims – 3 Things To Do After Filing A Claim

by Michael J. Evans on October 12, 2010

in BP Claims

If you’ve filed a BP claim and it hasn’t been paid, is there anything you can do to speed things up and improve your chances of being paid in full? Actually, there may be. Here are 3 things to consider doing even if you have already sent in your paperwork to the Gulf Coast Claims Facility.

  1. Send additional documentation of your losses. The GCCF administrator says one of the main reasons for claims going unpaid is lack of documentation. If you can find additional receipts or records to back up your claim, sending them to the GCCF should speed up your payment, and improve the odds that you will be paid the amount you have claimed. Write a letter and tell them you are sending additional proof of your losses. Put your claim number on all the paperwork. Be sure to keep the original papers in case you need them later.
  2. Amend your application to add any losses you may have forgotten to list on your original application. it’s not unusual for people to fill out forms and later remember other losses they failed to claim. If you have losses you didn’t list on your original application, send in an amended claim. List your additional losses. Once again, send a copy of any records proving your losses. Hold on to the original records.
  3. Contact a law firm. If you have a regular attorney you use for business or financial matters, contact him or her. You can also contact a law firm involved in the BP litigation. Some of these law firms are experienced in handling mass tort cases, which are more complex than run-of-the-mill lawsuits. Some of these firms will review your BP claims free-of-charge, and will assist you during the BP claims process. For more information, use our quick, simple form to get a free BP claim review by an attorney.

Visit BP-Claims-Report.com for more information about BP claims. To see how Kenneth Feinberg is performing, take a look at the BP Claims Report Card.  And if you’ve filed a claim and want to participate, you can grade Feinberg by clicking on this BP Claims Report Card link.

See attorney information and advertising disclaimers here.

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In School Outreach, BP and NOAA ‘Dispel Myths’ About Dispersants, Subsurface Oil

by Michael J. Evans on October 6, 2010

in Chemical Dispersants

ProPublica, Oct. 4, 3:12 p.m.

Even as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency calls for more research into the long-term effects of the chemical dispersants BP used in the Gulf, representatives of BP and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have reached out to local schools to “dispel myths” about dispersants and subsurface oil, according to recent reports in the Houma Courier and the Tri-Parish Times. (We first noticed the Tri-Parish Times piece via TreeHugger.)

BP and NOAA appear to be doing demonstrations for local schools using a 10-gallon fish tank full of water, some cooking oil, and some dishwashing detergent to simulate the properties of oil and the effects of dispersants.

The Houma Courier quoted NOAA science support coordinator Gary Ott as telling the children, “Oil floats. See, we’ve tested it.”(The oil-floats argument is also what then-BP CEO Tony Hayward said when first confronted with evidence of underwater oil plumes this summer.)

According to the two reports, Ott had the children try to use eyedroppers to suck up the oil, simulating the inefficiency of skimmers. He had them use paper towels to simulate absorbent booms.

And then he applied dishwashing detergent to the floating oil to break it down, simulating dispersants. Though he acknowledged the dispersed oil doesn’t disappear and could hurt some fish species, Ott told the children that the chemicals were broken down within weeks by microbes, the Courier reported. He also assured the children that Gulf seafood was safe to eat.

Scientists, as we’ve reported, have found thick layers of oily sediment on the Gulf sea floor. And more recently, researchers at Oregon State University found abnormally high levels of carcinogenic chemicals in water off the coast of Louisiana, Mother Jones noted.

We’ve asked both NOAA and BP for comment regarding the demonstrations. A BP spokeswoman told me she was working on putting together a response, but has not yet provided one. We’ve asked specifically what “myths” about dispersants the company was trying to dispel.

In any case, here’s how the company explained the outreach to the Tri-Parish Times:

“The primary purpose [of the demonstration] is to inform and educate students on the methods used to clean up the oil in the Gulf and the wetlands and marshes,” Janella Newsome, BP media liaison said in a press release. “It’s also to dispel myths about dispersants, subsurface oil and seafood safety.” According to BP representatives, it won’t be the last demonstration. “This is the first session of many going on,” Charles Gaiennie, a BP representative said at Oaklawn’s library last week. “We are starting here in Terrebonne Parish with eighth grade because they are the first of school age kids that have a defined science class. We wanted to reach out to schools that are near communities that have been directly impacted by the oil spill, so Terrebonne was a good choice. There’s a lot of information that’s out there isn’t current or accurate.”

During one demonstration, reported the Tri-Parish Times, a BP representative asked the students questions about the oil spill. Students who answered correctly received a BP hat or pen as a prize.

-END OF PROPUBLICA ARTICLE-

Is It Time To Contact An Attorney About Your BP Claim? Click Here For Free Information.

Comment by Michael J. Evans of BPOilNews.com: As we get closer to the trials of the lawsuits against BP, look for lots more BP “demonstrations to dispel myths” within the area from which the jurors will be selected. Big corporations learned years ago that a little “re-education” of the jury pool can pay dividends if they’re hauled before a jury.

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BP Claims – Suggestions for Kenneth Feinberg

by Michael J. Evans on September 21, 2010

in BP Claims

We’ve launched a site at BP-Claims-Report.com covering BP claims, the Gulf Coast Claims Facility and oil spill lawsuits. We’ve got a post there with 25 suggestions for Kenneth Feinberg, head of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, sent in by people who filled out the BP Claims Report Card earlier today. These people were responding to the question, “Any suggestions for Kenneth Feinberg? (optional).” Not a single one of the first 25 people to fill out the Report Card failed to make a suggestion for Feinberg. I’m posting the first 5 here. To see all 25, click on this link to Kenneth Feinberg suggestions.

Although the BP Claims Report Card is not a scientific survey, and there is no way to guarantee that everyone who fills out the report card actually has filed a claim with BP, the 25 suggestions contained in the post certainly appear authentic. They also open a window on the very real, very painful circumstances our Gulf Coast residents are facing through no fault of their own.

Comments are open on this post, and we welcome your contribution to the discussion. Also, if you want to take a look at responses to other BP Claims Report Card questions, just click on this link: BP Claims Report Card Results.

“This process is out of control as far as the length of time it takes to get satisfaction on a partial payment. I have been waiting since Aug.23rd to get a response on my ongoing business BP claim thru the GCCF and have yet to get an answer other than ( claim under review ). The so called helpline is nothing but an answering service. They are no help to anyone, the same answers that they give are the same as you can see online. Packets were printed and mailed to claimants a week after the process began. The money spent on this for printing,mailings, and the amount of trees destroyed is useless. We don’t need townhall meeting, or interviews , what we need is to have our claims paid,if not in full a partial payment so we can pay our obligations. Now knowing when your claim will be looked at or a date when funds will be available is frustrating.”

“I would suggest that he take into affect prior BP determinations and further look into job titles and of claimants and pay them accordingly instead of low balling claimants.”

“I want compensation for lack of VOO work that I was denied while others were chosen SINCE yopu have decided to allow VOO people to now “double dip”. I was repeately denied the opportunity to work while my business had STOPPED. I want to be treated equally.”

“Why did the GCCF get involved in my claim? According to BP they had everything they needed. I was told I’d know something within tens days but ten days later they said I had to start over.”

“Yes, in order for you to get any answers I am being told that once I file a FINAL PAYMENT claim they will talk to me. They still will not even say if I will get all the money I lost. It is a hide and seek game. Why does someone have to file a FINAL PAYMNET to get anything. Something fishy going on.”

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BP Claims – Kenneth Feinberg & the Gulf Coast Claims Facility Update

by Michael J. Evans on September 21, 2010

in BP Claims

If anyone wondered what Kenneth Feinberg’s real mission is at the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, they can stop wondering now. The Telegraph has an article today in which Feinberg talks about the possibility of BP filing bankruptcy: “It would be a nightmare, says Feinberg.” Then The Telegraph asked, “So, what would success look like for Feinberg and the GCCF? “It can be measured objectively by the number of people who do not take legal action,” he says.

Did you get that? Success for Feinberg is not measured in terms of paying claims fairly and quickly. Success is measured by keeping people out of court. With that as his goal, it now makes sense that he traveled the Gulf states meeting with people, making promises to pay individuals within 48 hours and businesses within 7 days, when it now appears clear that Feinberg could never have met those goals.

When Feinberg first embarked on his traveling sales tour, he said (a) he would pay claims faster, (b) he would be more generous, and (c) people would be crazy to hire a lawyer when he was going to treat them so well. Now his promises of great treatment have proven to be false, it may be a good time for people to rethink validity of Feinberg’s “crazy to hire a lawyer” line.

Even though Kenneth Feinberg has repeatedly disavowed any loyalty to BP, his actions and comments indicate otherwise. And given the fact that BP is paying Feinberg a salary of an undisclosed amount (what’s that about?), it wouldn’t be surprising if Feinberg feels more loyalty to BP than he does to a bunch of small businesses and individuals on the Gulf.

BP’s showed its strategy for Feinberg’s $20 billion fund last week. The $20 billion is one of BP’s biggest weapons in its battle to delay oil spill lawsuits. Bloomberg reported that BP is asking the federal judge overseeing the oil spill lawsuits to:

require virtually all spill victims to have their economic-damage claims examined by administrator Kenneth Feinberg before they’re allowed to sue. BP is paying Feinberg to oversee the evaluation of claims outside court. Requiring victims to first present their claims to the so- called Feinberg Fund, through which BP agreed to pay as much as $20 billion in damages, might delay litigation against BP for months while administrators sort out which claims qualify for payment, plaintiffs’ lawyers said in a Sept. 14 filing.

There may be other reasons, besides delay, to question the handling of BP’s $20 billion fund. Reuters reported recently that BP’s incoming CEO said that the $20 billion fund is sufficient to pay all claims against BP. Reuters had an interesting analysis of the situation:

The fund, which was taken over last month by Obama administration’s former executive pay czar Kenneth Feinberg, could presumably pay the vast majority of the stronger claims, such as those brought by resorts that had oil-smeared beaches. That could leave BP and its defendants facing weaker claims that the fund rejects, such as those brought by businesses miles from areas affected by the spill.

In other words, BP would be very happy for Mr. Feinberg to drag out the claims process for individuals and small to middle-sized businesses, paying off the large businesses so they wouldn’t pursue cases in court.

Is BP expecting Mr. Feinberg to pay resorts and large businesses with strong claims, leaving BP to face smaller and weaker claims in court? Support for that theory may come from Mr. Feinberg’s statements last week to Florida hotel and restaurant owners. Feinberg, who had previously said businesses need to be located near the Gulf in order to get paid, told the business group he has changed his mind. He has now decided he will not enforce a “proximity” rule limiting payments to businesses near the Gulf.

“If I say ‘No, you’re not eligible,’ what have I done but drive you into the court system?” Feinberg said to a meeting of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association in Orlando. “So I want to take a look. I make no promises.”

It looks as if Feinberg may have learned his lesson about making promises, after so many of his broken promises have been exposed in newspaper and television reports for a month. We’ve made of list of Kenneth Feinberg promises and posted them on a new site we’ve launched to cover the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, BP claims, and oil spill lawsuits. BP-Claims-Report.com will provide news and information for people who are trying to get repaid for losses caused by the Gulf oil spill.

BP-Claims-Report.com also has a BP Claims Report Card where people with BP claims can grade Kenneth Feinberg and the Gulf Coast Claims Facility. You can view some of the BP Claims Report Card results here. Also, we’ve posted suggestions for Kenneth Feinberg submitted by the first 25 people to fill out the report card. Those comments provide a distressing look at the circumstances that people of the Gulf are facing, through no fault of their own.

If you’re interested in the BP claims process, follow @BPClaimsReport on Twitter, connect with BP Claims Report on Facebook, and check out the videos posted on the BPClaims YouTube Channel. You can also find a free online form that allows you to request a free, no-obligation legal review of your oil spill claims.

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Oil Spill Claims Update | 29,000 Claims Filed, 1,900 Paid

by Michael J. Evans on August 31, 2010

in Kenneth Feinberg BP Fund,Oil Spill Claims

Oil Spill Claims – Ken Feinberg BP Fund Statistics – August 31, 2010

Kenneth Feinberg gave the Press-Register new figures Monday on the number of oil spill claims that have been paid by the Gulf Coast Claims Facility. As of Monday afternoon (8-31-2010), almost 29,000 people have filed claims. About 1,900 checks have been written for a total of $9.7 million. Feinberg said that forms filed by nearly 20,000 individual workers have been reviewed, and that today each one of them will receive a check or a message telling them what information they need to complete their request for payment.

A spokesperson for the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) said that payment statistics will be posted online daily at the GCCF website. The report that was posted on the website early Monday afternoon showed 29,867 claims for emergency advance payments, of which 1,935 have been paid. The total amount paid was $9,767,869.68.

The Washington Independent questioned GCCF spokesperson Amy Weiss about Feinberg’s promise that individual claims would be paid within 48 hours. “The 48 hours, as Ken has said, is 48 hours after the documentation is in.” She added that “every claim has been looked at so far.” Weiss said 88% of the requests were for lost earnings, about 6 percent were for “loss of subsistence use of natural resources,” and 4 percent were for damage to property.

Nearly all of the claimants have filed for emergency payments, which are supposed to cover losses for six months, before a final payment is made. One confusing thing is that there have been 1,358 “final claims” submitted, even though the GCCF isn’t accepting final claims yet. Feinberg appears to be confused by this, too, because the GCCF’s report says “Review underway to determine whether claimant intended to file Final Claim.”

If you filed for a final payment by mistake, there are at least two reasons you may want to withdraw it and submit a temporary claim. First, the final claim isn’t likely to be paid and you may not receive the temporary payment you are entitled to receive. Secondly, a final payment requires you to give up the right to request any further payments from BP, whereas temporary payments allow you to request more money.

If you want to read the rules Feinberg issued for processing requests for payments, we’ve put those online for you to read at Scribd.

Ken Feinberg BP Fund related posts:

Check back here for the latest information on getting paid for oil spill claims, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Also, we will soon be launching some new websites with information for people who want help getting paid on oil spill claims.

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