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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