BP lawsuits to be heard in New Orleans
A federal judge in New Orleans has been picked to preside over more than 300 lawsuits filed against BP PLC and other companies in the aftermath of the Gulf oil spill.
Previously, BP's lawyers had asked to have these proceedings take place in Houston where, as Oyster explained at length here, the court may have been a bit more sympathetic toward BP.
Update: Note this, however: Carl Barbier, Judge Who Owned Bonds In Gulf Oil Spill Companies, Will Handle Most Spill Lawsuits
Meanwhile,
Questions remain about Gulf Victims Fund
1) BP is going to make about $5 billion in claims against its own "victims' relief fund". Apparently, BP is its own victim here and needs to pay itself reparations or something.
2)
President Obama appointed prominent attorney Ken Feinberg to oversee the fund.
Feinberg says he will only coordinate the claims for individuals and businesses.
Local governments must still appeal directly to BP for their losses.
"If BP and the White House are saying that while the government claims will come out of the fund, but Feinberg won't handle those claims, you're going to be having more than one hand actually dealing with the fund and will you get inconsistent results, we don't know," said New Orleans attorney Walter Leger.
3) Leger and others are now begging to have more of this stuff go through Feinberg. Which, if you've been reading Dambala at all, you kind of have to sigh at a little.
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