Yesterday, Judge Carl Barbier ruled British Petroleum was guilty of gross negligence in the lead-up to the Deepwater Horizon disaster, stating BP made “profit-driven decisions” during the drilling of the well and “these instances of negligence, taken together, evince an extreme deviation from the standard of care and a conscious disregard of known risk.” Barbier…
Tag: Judge Carl Barbier
Pots, kettles and oil, all black…
In the latest from the MDL litigation, Transocean, the owner of the Deepwater Horizon, alleged that their contract with British Petroleum, the leaseholder of the Macondo Well, had indemnified them against any liabilities for pollution underneath the surface of the Gulf, and also against any civil penalties under the Clean Water Act or punitive damages from being…
Judge Barbier denies BP appeal…
Back in August, US District Court Judge Carl Barbier issued a ruling allowing for claimants in the B1 Bundle to sue British Petroleum for punitive damages, a ruling BP appealed. “I have given this a lot of thought,” Barbier said about BP’s appeal at the end of last week… Denied. The B1 bundle includes all…
The oil isn’t degrading, but BP’s legal arguments are…
The oil that washed ashore after tropical Storm Lee…fresh as ever! “Auburn University experts who studied tar samples at the request of coastal leaders said the latest wave of gooey orbs and chunks appeared relatively fresh, smelled strongly and were hardly changed chemically from the weathered oil that collected on Gulf beaches during the spill….
Feinberg: GCCF claims process winding down…
In a Fox News article posted over the weekend, Ken Feinberg said the claims process was winding down. He also told the Telegraph he’d processed over 80% of claims, “I’ve used just over $4 billion dollars…I don’t envision a flood of new claims.” Interesting, and potentially problematic… With the terrible beginning to the brown shrimp…
Here come the lawyers…a day in Judge Barbier’s court…
Okay, so first we acknowledge the obvious: Lawyers being lawyers, and British Petroleum having long since given up that whole “making things right,” and “actions, not words” schtick – at least in reality – of course BP is going to try to use every legal maneuver to pay as little as possible to anyone. Their company’s in…
Promises, promises, promises…
A couple of days ago I wrote a bit about how Ken Feinberg’s credibility is a thing of the past. In fact, his credibility began eroding just a few weeks into his tenure as the neutral arbitrator of British Petroleum’s compensation fund when his initial promises of EAP claims being paid for individuals within 48…
BP, Feinberg and the Federal Government against the Gulf Coast…
When US District Court Judge Carl Barbier issued his ruling which declared Feinberg and the GCCF were not independent of British Petroleum, but more of a related hybrid entity, he requested all parties involved file briefs for his consideration in making a future ruling on whether the oil claims process follows the law. And the…
