After the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion freed more than 4.9 million barrels of oil into the ocean three years ago, thousands of the businesses and individuals who had been affected have filed suit against the responsible party: British Petroleum (BP). Now that it has finally come time for BP to dole out what could be billions of dollars in settlement payouts, however, they have attempted to shield themselves from accountability by trying to block payments to the victims. According to recent reports, the company filed a lawsuit on March 15, 2013 in U.S. District Court.
In their suit, BP accuses Patrick Juneau, the court-appointed administrator for the settlement, of trying to rewrite the terms of the deal by manipulating calculations. Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange and Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood have since prompted a federal court judge to quash BP’s attempts to side-step responsibility. They explained that the company had agreed to Juneau’s terms when they signed a court document back in February of 2012, so there should be no reason for BP to object to them now. The company has since responded to these criticisms by arguing that there was a misunderstanding between Juneau and BP.
As a result, they believe that Juneau has unfairly paid claims to several different businesses for non-existent losses. According to Mr. Strange, “BP cannot undo a settlement it negotiated and signed, just to avoid its consequences. The courts should not allow it.” It is for this reason that both parties are currently at odds. In any case, it is important that you come forward if you have been affected by the BP oil spill, as well—either as an individual or a business. Our firm is experienced in managing even the most contentious of personal injury claims, so we will do everything in our power to ensure that you are fairly compensated for the losses that you have sustained.
Even though BP has attempted to avoid the consequences of their mistakes, we are willing to stand up and fight on your behalf. We are no stranger to representing cases of this magnitude—which is evident in the fact that Morris, Andrews, Talmadge & Driggers, LLC has won the largest verdict in the history of Alabama ($21,000,000)—so we encourage you to place your trust in the hands of our firm. All you have to do to get started is pick up the phone and contact one of our Montgomery personal injury lawyers for a free initial consultation. You can even reach us online if you would prefer by submitting a free case evaluation form directly from our website.
