Attorney General reverses course, supports holding back percentage of BP settlements | NOLA.com

Louisiana A.G. Buddy Caldwell

Attorney General reverses course, supports holding back percentage of BP settlements | NOLA.com: "Reversing his position without explanation, Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell said Tuesday he would support holding back 4 percent of state financial recoveries from the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster to fund the work of the committee of plaintiff attorneys at the helm of the litigation.

File photoAttorney General Buddy CaldwellCaldwell will also assume a new higher-profile role in the consolidated litigation over the oil spill, and will join Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange as co-coordinating counsel for state interests.The news came in a court filing Tuesday afternoon that also withdraws an earlier objection Caldwell had filed with the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals over the 4 percent withholding issue."

Meanwhile the Southeast Texas Record reports that Alabama A.G. Luther Strange who supported the hold back has shifted his position in light of the objection filed by the United States Department of Justice.  Strange reportedly now calls for Judge Barbier to reconsider.


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Holdback order in BP oil spill case challenged

Holdback order in BP oil spill case challenged: "NEW YORK, Jan 13 (Reuters) - In a flurry of court filings this week, lawyers for claimants before the $20 billion BP oil spill fund asked a federal judge to reconsider his December order requiring that six percent of future settlements be placed in a reserve account.

U.S. District Court judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans established the account on Dec. 28 to potentially reward lawyers leading the BP multi-district litigation spawned by the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion in 2010. Barbier said he had not decided to award the fees, but he wanted to have the option if he decided they were deserved. On Jan. 4, Barbier amended his order to clarify the order would only affect claimants who hadn't received a determination letter from the BP fund as of Dec. 31."

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Kenneth Feinberg freezes payments from BP oil spill fund | NOLA.com

Fallout continues from MDL Judge Carl Barbier's order to deduct 6% of all settlements between BP and claimants  in the Gulf oil spill of 2010.  BP challenges the judge's jurisdiction to order a hold-back of funds paid to people who have not filed suit and have not benefited from the plaintiffs Steering Committee's work and investments in the cases.  As I discuss in a forthcoming piece in the Roger Williams Law Review there is a regulatory vacuum regarding administration of BP's mandatory compensation scheme under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.  Judge Barbier citing the existence of a "putative class" of claimants has stepped boldly into that gap.  - GWC
Kenneth Feinberg freezes payments from BP oil spill fund | NOLA.com:

"The Gulf Coast Claims Facility has halted all payments for oil spill damage in the wake of a ruling by U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier last week that 6 percent of all settlements reached after Nov. 7 be set aside to finance the work of plaintiff attorneys in the oil spill litigation in New Orleans. The move means that thousands of people and businesses waiting to be compensated outside of court for harm they endured when the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded and sank in April 2010 will have to wait longer for their money.

Payments to about 9,000 people and businesses who have received final determination letters from the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, but have yet to sign the award, are now in play. Another 40,000 people and businesses have claims under review at the GCCF and could also be affected.
"While we seek clarification from the court, we will freeze all GCCF payments going forward," claims facility administrator Kenneth Feinberg said Tuesday. "Hopefully, this freeze will be of a very short duration.""

Goodwin Procter, attorneys for Feinberg and the GCCF have asked for clarification of how to comply with the ruling which is effective November 7.  At least some of those funds are no longer within the GCCF or BP's control.


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Fund will be created to reimburse plaintiff attorneys working on BP litigation | NOLA.com

Fund will be created to reimburse plaintiff attorneys working on BP litigation | NOLA.com:

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier has granted a hotly contested motion to create a fund that could eventually reimburse plaintiff attorneys for their work in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill litigation over the objections of several parties to the case.

Barbier's order does not actually award "common benefit fees," or the amount of money that the committee of plaintiff attorneys pressing the case for the benefit of all claimants would get to compensate them for their time and expenses.
Rather, it sets up a fund that would ultimately pay such fees, should they be awarded, and requires defendants and states in the case to begin holding back a percentage of any settlements as contributions to the fund.

A percentage of settlements reached through the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, the $20 billion fund administered by Washington mediator Kenneth Feinberg, will also be required to be contributed to the fund.

The order is HERE
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