BP victim fund is 'inaccurate and misleading'
An expert witness for Gulf Coast residents suing BP over its giant oil spill has claimed that the energy major's $20bn (£12bn) compensation fund for victims is "inaccurate and misleading".
Geoffrey Hazard, a law professor at the University of California
hired by the plaintiffs, has questioned whether the process is "more just and fair" than the law – as allegedly portrayed by the fund – especially since claimants are forced to sign away their rights to sue the oil giant at a later date.
He also asks whether the fund, overseen by Kenneth Feinberg, can be properly neutral when all its expenses are paid by BP.
The idea that claimants will have to pay higher lawyer fees if they do not sue BP is not necessarily accurate, Dr Hazard claims, because within the class action suits the court has the power to limit fees going to lawyers.
The 10-page statement was submitted to US judge Carl Barbier, who is hearing all the hundreds of complex oil spill cases.
"Statements portray Gulf Coast Claims Facility procedure as more just and fair than that in the ordinary tort system," Professor Hazard wrote. "But the Oil Pollution Act requires a responsible party, such as BP, directly to receive claims, to make interim payments, and to fully compensate a claimant for loss caused."
The purpose of the $20bn fund, called the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF), is to get money faster to people financially affected by the oil spill. It is also likely to reduce BP's liabilities as an independent claims process will probably be cheaper for it than fighting claims in the courts.
"As I understand, the attorneys being hired by the Gulf Claims Compensation Facility to assist claimants are not working pro bono but are being paid by BP. If that is so, those attorneys have a professional duty to inform any claimant they may assist of that compensation arrangement," Professor Hazard added. "The Feinberg firm and Gulf Coast Claims Facility can properly be considered agents for BP, even though they seek to be 'fair and independent'."
Tony Buzbee, a lawyer suing BP on behalf of more than 15,000 clients, has said he is willing to give the compensation fund a chance and submit claims through the system first.
However, he told The Sunday Telegraph that around half of his clients are "very, very unhappy" with the fund administrator's decision that their loss of income does not qualify for emergency compensation.
If they are excluded from final settlements, he will have no option to but to pursue their claims through the legal system.
The fund was set up last summer after weeks of pressure from the Obama administration placed on BP, led at that time by chief executive Tony Hayward. The company agreed to bankroll a fund –held in escrow – over a number of years in order to pay for clean-up and other compensation costs.
At the time, estimates suggested clean-up costs could total as much as $16bn, but more recent estimates have been somewhat lower.
The GCCF has to date received 468,000 claims and paid out around $2.7bn to some 170,000 claimants. Mr Feinberg was put in charge of the fund due to his expertise in managing the post 9/11 terror attacks victims' fund.
via The Telegraph
No comments:
Post a Comment