Appeals Court Orders Judge Barbier to Give Further Consideration to BP Claims Dispute

Posted in BP British Petroleum,Deepwater Horizon,Government,Louisiana Maritime News,Maritime Lawsuits on October 8, 2013

NEW ORLEANS, La. — The second phase of the BP oil spill trial which began on Monday, October 7, in New Orleans, is set to determine how much oil was spilled. In the meantime, BP was handed down a partial win by a Federal Appeals court, regarding the intial interpretation of the settlement claims agreement.

Federal appeals court ordered Judge Carl Barbier to “give further consideration” to BP claims that the terms of the multibillion-dollar settlement were being misinterpreted, and that the formula used to calculate potential losses needed to be clarified.

According to the media, the court issued BP Oil a partial victory regarding the claims dispute involving the Gulf oil spill. The court ordered Judge Carl Barbier to “give further consideration” to BP claims that the terms of the multibillion-dollar settlement were being misinterpreted, and that the formula used to calculate potential losses needed to be clarified.

BP had previously asked U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier, to suspend payments due to misinterpretations of the agreement that was reached last year in which they said fraud was being committed.

The appeals court decision was a “big sentiment” win for BP, analysts at Tudor Pickering Holt said. Presuming claim submissions will be halted for a year, claim approval rates would be cut by a quarter, they added.

Blog post by Louisiana maritime lawyer, Gordon, Elias & Seely.