US Supreme Court Rejects BP's Appeal

The United States Supreme Court last week rejected British Petroleum's (BP) plea to halt payments under the settlement agreement. BP had appealed District Court Judge Barbier's findings to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Fifth Circuit issued a ruling rejecting BP's argument that the settlement agreement was unfair and would dole out billions to businesses whose claims were unrelated to the oil spill disaster. BP then appealed the Fifth Circuit's ruling to the Supreme Court, who refused to hear the matter.

This is a huge victory for all of those businesses that were affected by the tragic environmental disaster. BP has tried to do everything it could do to get out of the deal that their lawyers and hired CPA firms reviewed and advised to sign.

5th Circuit Upholds BP Settlement

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:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-11/bp-oil-spill-settlement-approval-upheld-by-u-s-appeals-court.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/11/business/energy-environment/appeals-court-upholds-oil-spill-settlement.html?_r=0

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. 

5th Circuit Throws More Confusion Into BP Claim Process

The Deepwater Horizon BP settlement claims process has taken a life of its own. Upset about how the claims process has turned out, lawyers for BP have appealed their own settlement agreement twice  to the 5th Circuit. Both times, the 5th Circuit has appeared to side with BP. Outlandish as it may seem, BP is trying to have a settlement that they vetted and agreed to, that District Judge Barbier approved, and a settlement that they stuck to for over a year, thrown out.

 

BP's main argument is that there has to be causation in a settlement agreement. I think that this is ludicrous-how could any party settle any lawsuit for any conceivable controversy if  the plaintiff has to prove causation. For more on the latest in this legal odyssey, see The Times Picayune/nola.com article below:

http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2013/12/5th_circuit_orders_temporary_h.html#incart_m-rpt-2

5th Circuit Drops Major Decision in BP

The 5th Circuit today issued an opinion basically tossing out the settlement agreement agreed to by the Plaintiffs and the Defendants and approved by District Judge Barbier. The 2-1 decision was written by Judge Clement.

 

The Ruling had three major instructions:

 

1.      Requesting the Claims Administrator to confirm to the District Court that he is not ignoring the “accrual-basis” accounting method for companies using such method;

 

2.      Remand to the District Court to develop a more complete factual record to determine whether the settlement agreement intended to require a claimant to convert from a “cash-basis” accounting method to an “accrual-basis” accounting method; and

 

3.      Stay all payments to claimants until the District Court Judge can clarify these two issues.

 

Once Judge Barbier in the District Court takes up these issues on remand, we will have a better understanding of the type of claims that will be approved and administered.

Although I have not had a chance to digest the entire opinion, one citation in particular stuck out to me:

            “It makes no difference that a defendant may bargain for global peace by agreeing to allow claimants with no colorable legal claim to recover from the settlement fund. A class settlement is not a private agreement between the parties. It is a creature of Rule 23, which authorizes its use to resolve the legal claims of a class “only with the court’s approval.”

 

   

BP Trying to Suspend Claim Payments

Lawyers for British Petroleum have asked United States District Judge Barbier, who is presiding over the MDL, to suspend payments to claimants because of alleged fraud. Read the story below from The Times Picayune/nola.com:

http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2013/07/bp_asks_federal_court_to_suspe.html#incart_m-rpt-2

BP Has Paid $573 Million to Alabama Claimants So Far

More than 32,367 individuals and businesses in Alabama have filed claims in a settlement stemming from a class action lawsuit against BP over its 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, but many who might qualify for settlement funds have not yet filed. In fact, thousands of Alabama individuals and businesses have filed but have not been paid yet.

Of the claims filed thus far in Alabama, about 9,600 have been declared eligible and $573 million has been paid to Alabama claimants. Millions more have been paid to residents of neighboring states as well. In total, 172,000 claims have been filed in five states, and claims administrators have paid out more than $3.5 billion.

Businesses do not have to be located on the Gulf Coast to qualify for payment. An accounting formula is used to determine if a business lost revenue during the oil spill period. Businesses must demonstrate that their revenue during three consecutive months between May and December of 2010 was 15 percent lower than during a benchmark period from before the oil spill, and that revenue over the same three month period in 2011 was at least 10 percent higher than during the oil spill months. Claims must be accompanied by documents including federal tax returns.

Even if you think your business was healthy during these time periods, you may still qualify for the settlement.

As of today, claimants must file by April 2014. This seems like a long way into the future, but the close out date is fast approaching. It would be an absolute mistake not to inquire if you even qualify for a BP payment.

The BP Deepwater Horizon spill in April of 2010 dumped 5.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf, more than 17 times the amount of crude that was spilled by the wreck of the Exxon Valdez tanker in 1989.

The attorneys at Pittman, Dutton & Hellums, P.C. are currently investigating BP claims. If you or someone you know, or represent, owns a business in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and certain areas of Florida and Texas, you may qualify for a BP claim payment. Please contact Booth Samuels toll free at 1-866-515-8880 or via email at booths@pittmandutton.com.

 

 

Judge Approves BP Oil Spill Settlement

Last Friday, U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier gave final approval to BP PLC's settlement with businesses and people who lost money because of the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. BP has estimated it will pay $7.8 billion to resolve more than 100,000 claims by businesses and individuals from the nation's worst offshore oil spill. The settlement has no cap; the company could end up paying more or less.

Judge Barbier approved the settlement in a 125-page ruling issued Friday evening. "None of the objections, whether filed on the objections docket or elsewhere, have shown the Settlement to be anything other than fair, reasonable, and adequate," he wrote. Barbier preliminarily approved the settlement in May.

The infamous April 2010 blowout of BP's Macondo well triggered an explosion that killed 11 rig workers. The well spilled more than 200 million gallons, or roughly 4.9 million barrels, of oil into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico over 87 days, until it was permanently sealed. A camera at the well-head broadcasted a live feed of the disaster to the world.

Barbier has not ruled on a medical settlement for cleanup workers and others who say exposure to oil or dispersants made them sick — just on economic and property damage claims. The agreement covers people and businesses in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and some coastal counties in eastern Texas and western Florida, and in adjacent Gulf waters and bays.

As part of the settlement, BP will pay $2.3 billion to cover seafood-related claims by commercial fishing vessel owners, captains and deckhands. That fund is the settlement's only cap on damages. That figure is about five times the average industry gross revenue from 2007 to 2009 and, according to evidence provided, more than 19 times the revenue the industry lost in 2010.

While US District Judge Carl Barbier approved the deal in May, he held a “fairness hearing” in November, which weighed objections from 13,000 claimants who challenged the settlement. The hearing served to resolve some of the oil company’s liability for the Macondo well blowout. The blown out Macondo well gushed about After Judge Barbier gave preliminary approval in May, thousands of people opted out of the settlement to pursue their cases individually.

Still unresolved are environmental damage claims brought by the federal government and Gulf Coast states against BP and its partners on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, and claims against Switzerland-based rig owner Transocean Ltd., and Houston-based cement contractor Halliburton.

There is a trial scheduled for 2013 which will identify causes of BP's well blowout and assign percentages of fault to the companies involved in the economic and environmental disaster.