In a surprising decision based on its past opinions over the matter, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Judge Barbier's ruling over the BP Settlement last Friday. BP's lawyers have been arguing that the settlement is not what they agreed to and was patently unfair to their client-even though they signed off on the agreement and fully understood the ramifications of the agreement.
At the heart of BP's argument was that in order to qualify for the settlement, a claimant must prove causation. Of course, BP's lawyers wanted the Appeals Court to use their 'new' definition of causation, not the definition of "causation" in the settlement agreement. What they wanted was for the Courts to re-interpret, and basically rewrite, the settlement agreement in BP's favor.
The battle has been ongoing for some time and there are still other aspects of the appeal still up in the air. The latest ruling, however, is a huge victory for claimants and the Gulf Coast as a whole. For more information on the subject, click on the links below:
Pittman, Dutton & Hellums, P.C., is currently investigating and filing claims for those affected by the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. If your company is located in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and parts of Florida and Texas, you may be entitled to compensation. Contact Booth Samuels at 1-866-515-8880 or by email at booths@pittmandutton.com for a free case evaluation.
