On April 24, 2013, Judge Barbier issued a further decision on the BP Claims Appeals Process. The Court, retaining jurisdiction and discretion over the Settlement Agreement and the Appeals Process, ordered that upon filing an appeal, BP is to specifically define the reason for appeal using one of three designated legal issues (“Contributions/Grant Revenue for Non-Profits issue; Alternative Causation issue; or Matching of Revenue and Expenses issue”). Any appeals citing these legal issues, of which have previously been decided by this Court, are denied, in order to avoid further delay in claims processing and expenditure of resources. The Claims Administrator was instructed to proceed with final processing of any such claim in accordance with the Claimant’s Eligibility Notice. The processing of these claims does not constitute a waiver of BP’s rights with respect to further review of legal issues.
Judge Barbier’s order comes on the heels of the United States Fifth Circuit’s ruling earlier this week denying BP’s request for a stay of the claims process while BP pursued injunctive relief. This means that for the time being, BP will not be able to continue the same delay tactics, which it has employed over the past several months, to hinder claims under the Deepwater Horizon Settlement to which it agreed last year.
Lambert Zainey has filed many BP claims and would be happy to evaluate your business or non-profit’s economic losses due to the BP Oil Spill at no charge to you. Should you decide to file a claim under the Deepwater Horizon Settlement, we charge a fee of 25% of your total award under the Settlement and front all costs associated with filing your claim. The evaluation is free and only requires that you provide to us monthly profit & loss statements and federal tax returns of your business or non-profit before we can determine whether or not you qualify.