A federal court in New Orleans has named Lafayette attorney Patrick Juneau claims administrator for the BP oil spill settlement process, which the court will oversee.
A federal court in New Orleans has named Lafayette attorney Patrick Juneau claims administrator for the BP oil spill settlement process, which the court will oversee. Juneau is replacing BP administrator Kenneth Feinberg.
Because of the $8 billion settlement reached last week between attorneys representing more than 100,000 individuals and businesses with claims against BP over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion, the federal court relieved Feinberg of his duties. Feinberg was administrator of BP's $20 billion compensation fund for victims of the spill. BP had agreed to set up the fund to compensate those with economic losses after the spill, and the Feinberg-led Gulf Coast Claims Facilities has already processed about 221,300 claims, paying out $6 billion from the fund.
The local law firm of Domengeaux, Wright, Roy & Edwards, led by managing member Jim Roy, helped negotiate the $8 billion settlement last week. Juneau is replacing Feinberg during the transitional process away from the GCCF and will then be responsible for the court-supervised claims program as that process gets under way. Juneau will be assisted in the initial phase by Lynn Greer, a Richmond, Va., attorney, who was named transition coordinator by the federal court.
Plaintiffs' attorneys who brokered the settlement say that the court-supervised claims process means claimants will generally be paid greater benefits than under the GCCF.