Class Counsel Defend BP Settlement, Claims Administrator

On May 21, 2014, HH&K Partner and Co-Lead Counsel in the BP Oil Spill Litigation, Steve Herman, appeared on “The Angela Show” on WWL Radio in New Orleans.  He explained the history of the BP Settlement, BP’s sudden about-face on the settlement terms, the settlement appeal, and the current status of the settlement.  We would like to highlight a few quotes from that broadcast.

This should be a shining example of the legal system at its best.

“The Court and the parties, even BP, worked extremely hard to prevent this from being another Exxon Valdez. We did a lot of work in a very small time: thousands of depositions, and all kinds of things, going to trial very early, and getting the settlement, to try to bring to a close.  We were very proud of it, and the Court was proud of it, and BP, their attorneys at the time, were proud of it.  Now all of that has been tainted, and soiled, and it’s really a shame.  This should be a shining example of the legal system at its best.  When we signed this deal in April 2012, that’s what it was, and frankly I’m still proud of it, and I think that’s what it is today.  But, unfortunately, because of BP, they just tarnished it.”

— Steve Herman, Co-Lead Counsel, BP Oil Spill Litigation

Juneau was a unanimous choice; BP is unfairly criticizing him for doing exactly what BP asked him to do.

“Both BP and class counsel wanted Mr. Juneau. It was a unanimous choice. He was the head of the defense attorney’s organization here in Louisiana, and he’s been all over the country doing some of the biggest cases. He did the Toyota case in California with hundreds and thousands of claimants. He did, I can’t remember what it was off the top my head, but he did a drug case in Chicago. So he’s been appointed by judges all over the country to be a special master. BP was very happy with him, and so were we, and so was the court.  But he didn’t have anything to do with writing the agreement. It was brought to him by us and BP….   [Not only does the record show that BP agreed to what it is complaining about in the New York Times, but] to make it worse, they’re making a scapegoat out of Pat Juneau, who did exactly what they asked him to do. He interpreted the settlement agreement exactly the way they told him to interpret it, and then they turned around and said he’s doing a bad job.  It’s outrageous.  It’s completely unfair, and just doesn’t comport with the record at all.”

–Steve Herman, Co-Lead Counsel, BP Oil Spill Litigation