Tax on Oil Spill Victims Draws Legal Blood
Tax on Oil Spill Victims Draws Legal Blood
NEW ORLEANS (CN) - A federal judge's order authorizing oil spill plaintiff attorneys to collect a 6 percent fee from payments made through the Gulf Coast Claims Facility has drawn bitter opposition from plaintiff attorneys and attorneys general.
The order was expedited on Dec. 28 by U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier who is overseeing the consolidated oil spill litigation. Barbier's order grants the oil spill plaintiff steering committee (PSC) attorneys' request to take 6 percent of all payments made from the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) to victims of the spill. The fee is to be collected into a common fund to pay for litigation expenses incurred by the plaintiff steering committee.
The Gulf Coast Claims Facility was established with $20 billion from BP in June 2010 as a way for BP, as "responsible party," to pay oil spill victims directly and avoid litigation expenses. The idea is that claimants can accept payment through the fund and avoid the legal process altogether.
The fund, overseen by Kenneth Feinberg, has been criticized as slow and ineffective. Still, tens of thousands of claimants have chosen to seek compensation through the fund - often because they are desperate for immediate compensation and because litigation could take decades to resolve.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/01/18/43125.htm
