Federal Judge Carl Barbier denies BP’s attempt for proof of damage claims requirement

Over the past several months, BP has used several tactics to stall paying out claims made by businesses in the areas affected by the 2010 oil spill. In its latest attempt, BP argue that a business’ claims should not be paid if the business is unable to prove its losses were caused by the spill. However, as Judge Barbier makes clear in his statement, BP agreed, during the terms of the settlement, that such a burden of proof would be far too unwieldy of a process, which “would require thousands of individual trials of causation, defeating the whole purpose and intent of a class settlement.” Judge Barbier continues to say that BP’s behavior is disappointing and unexpected, saying “Frankly, it is surprising that the same counsel who represented BP during the settlement negotiations, participated in drafting the final settlement agreement, and then strenuously advocated for approval of the settlement before this court, now come to this court and the 5th Circuit and contradict everything they have previously done or said on this issue.” For more information regarding the BP trial, please visit our BP Ongoing Results page. Read the full article on Nola.com. Source: Mark Schleifstein, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune , November 22, 2013