Today the federal judge in charge of the BP Gulf class action lawsuit gave final approval to a $7.8 billion settlement between BP and a huge class of business owners and individuals who suffered economic loss due to the historic 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
For a copy of the full federal court decision and settlement click here.
BP PLC announced that it expects the over 100,000 claimants currently identified as members of the class will now have access to the funds and claims settlement process. It also noted that the settlement has no cap and therefor the company could end up paying more, or less, than the estimated $7.8 billion figure.
BP Oil spill settlement, is it really final?
Questions remain that will be worked out and The Legal Broadcast Network will have on one of the premier mass tort attorneys and a lawyer immersed in the BP Settlement process, Attorney Frederick "Rick" Kuykendall of Fairhope, AL and associated with the law firm of Farrell and Patel, Miami, FL. We will be interviewing Attorney Kuykendall tomorrow and look to have a full video discussion of the settlement terms so as to answer key questions of crucial interest to trial lawyers and structured settlement professionals regarding the BP Settlements, such as:
- Who will be in charge of the claims process and how soon will claims be paid.
- How are claims values calculated for the BP settlement?
- How will legal fees be paid as part of the BP settlement?
- Is it too late to file a claim for loss in the BP oil spill and how can someone find a lawyer to assist them at this point in the process?
- What will the tax status of claims be and do claimants need to declare payments as taxable income on their tax returns?
- If a claimant wants to structured their BP settlement claim to defer taxes, what is the process in the claims facility to get this done?
These and other questions of crucial importance to lawyers will be covered on the show Speaking of Justice, an in depth broadcast with Rick Kuykendall, and an exclusive conversation featured only on The Legal Broadcast Network.
