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BP lawsuits

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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BP Claims | BP Will Begin Offering One-Time Payments This Month

by Michael J. Evans on August 2, 2010

in BP Claims

UPDATED 8-21-2010 |Kenneth Feinberg takes over the processing of all BP claims August 23, 2010. Feinberg released his rules for processing oil spill claims on 8-20-2010, giving rise to immediate criticism by the Attorneys General of Florida and Alabama, oil spill attorneys representing claimants affected by the Gulf oil spill, and residents and business owners on the Gulf Coast. Check out our post on Ken Feinberg’s rules for handling oil spill claims and our post on the Florida and Alabama attorneys generals’ attacks on Feinberg’s proposed oil spill claims rules.

Original article

BP will begin offering one-time payments to people and businesses directly affected by the Gulf oil spill this month, reports The Guardian. In exchange, BP will require those who receive payments to waive their rights to file lawsuits.

“The fund will offer lump sum payments in return for an agreement not to pursue claims in court,” a spokeswoman said. BP also says it will offer the option of emergency payouts of up to six months income without requiring a waiver of the right to file a lawsuit.

The Guardian reports that, privately, BP believes that it will be able to hold its damages well below the $20 billion it has committed to pay into an escrow fund for claimants.

The new procedure offering a one-time payment in exchange for a waiver of the right to sue is undoubtedly a major part of BP’s strategy to limit its liability. The company knows that tens of thousands of Gulf Coast residents and businesses are in severe financial distress, with some near bankruptcy. For those with small losses which aren’t expected to continue over a long period of time, BP’s one-time settlement offer may be very attractive. For people and businesses with large losses, particularly those with losses that are hard to estimate this soon after the spill, it remains to be seen how attractive BP’s new program will be.

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BP Oil Spill Attorneys | What Some of the Lawyers are Saying

by Michael J. Evans on July 29, 2010

in Oil Spill Attorneys

The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has given rise to some of the largest, most complex litigation in U.S. history. There have already been more than 300 lawsuits filed in federal courts, including over 250 filed as proposed class action lawsuits. If the class action lawsuits are certified by a judge as actual class actions, they could include millions of Gulf Coast residents, businesses, and property owners. Defendants in the cases include British Petroleum, Transocean and Halliburton. A ruling is expected in August.

July 29, 2010 – First Hearing Held in all Federal Oil Spill Lawsuits

The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) held a hearing in Boise, Idaho, on July 29, 2010, to determine whether the cases should all be consolidated and, if so, which court should handle the cases. It is almost a foregone conclusion that the cases will be consolidated. The big issue is where the cases will be sent. The defendants have argued the cases should be sent to Houston, Texas. They were joined in their request by Houston attorney Mark Lanier, who represents some of the plaintiffs. Other oil spill attorneys argued the cases should be sent to New Orleans, Mississippi, or Mobile, Alabama. The Justice Department argued that the cases should be sent to New Orleans.

Some interesting statements were made by oil spill attorneys at the hearing today, so we thought this would be a good time to quote some of the statements by oil spill lawyers handling the BP lawsuits for Gulf Coast residents, businesses and property owners.

Oil Spill Attorneys – What Some Are Saying

July 29, 2010 – Boise, Idaho – Statements Made to Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML)(from Reuters, The New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal).

New Orleans oil spill attorney Russ Herman:

“Our culture rises as a gumbo of Cajuns, Creole, French, German and Spanish,” he said. “All of that is threatened now. This disaster threatens our hope and faith. That’s why New Orleans is the best avenue of justice.”

“We rise out of our myth, our metaphor, our mystery, our seafood and our music, which now is threatened, and the threat of our culture threatens our hope and our faith. You have an opportunity to focus the world on this country, on this disaster, so it won’t happen again. Assist us in our resliiency.”

New Orleans oil spill attorney Allan Kenner: “”If after the Sept. 11 attacks this panel had sent all those cases to Houston or brought in a judge [from elsewhere] to sit in New York, the public would be outraged.”

BP attorney Andrew J. Langan, representing BP, reiterated that his client wants the cases sent to the Southern District of Texas for pretrial proceedings, asserting that “the key witnesses and key documents are by far located in Houston.” Langan told the Panel that, if the cases are sent to New Orleans, BP will argue that Judge Carl Barbier should recuse himself from the cases. Judge Barbier sold his oil stocks shortly after the spill and has refused to recuse himself.

“You are the Superman of the Justice League!” Russ Herman said to W. Mark Lanier, a plaintiffs lawyer who wants the cases heard in Houston, his home. (In an interview, Mr. Lanier noted that he had won many cases against oil giants in Houston, and said, “Houston jurors hate big oil, and think they’re all dirty.”)

Other statements by oil spill attorneys about the BP lawsuits and the JPML hearing (July 29, 2010)(from the Los Angeles Times and The Gazette):

Charlie Tebbutt, an Oregon attorney representing the Center for Biological Diversity in its suit alleging violations of the Clean Water Act, said he is pursuing the maximum penalties against BP and Transocean of $4,300 per barrel of oil spilled into the Gulf waters. He estimates the bill could be $20 billion, “if we can prove gross negligence or willful misconduct, which we expect should be relatively easy to prove in this case.”

“The stakes here are tremendous,” said Georgene Vairo, a Loyola Law School professor of civil procedure and expert in complex litigation. “For a single-event type of incident this is the biggest we’ve ever seen, just in the range of claims, the government and private party actions, the cost of claims, the insurance aspects. It’s just the whole nine yards. It’s huge.” “The facts here are going to be relevant to every single claim. What did they do when they built that pipeline and well? Who did what in terms of maintaining the well over time? Did they do the required inspections?” Vairo said. Once those questions are answered in one case, they can be applied to the rest, she said.

Oil spill attorney Allan Kenner: “We are witnessing nothing short of a collapse of an ecosystem that took tens of thousands of years to create.”

Check back for more quotes from oil spill attorneys in the coming days.

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