By Andrew Longstreth
NEW YORK (Reuters) – In a flurry of court filings this week, lawyers for claimants before the $20 billion BP (LSE:BP.L – News) oil spill fund asked a federal judge to reconsider his December order requiring that six percent of future settlements be placed in a reserve account.
District Court judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans established the account on December 28 to potentially reward lawyers leading the BP multi-district litigation spawned by the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion in 2010. Barbier said he had not decided to award the fees, but he wanted to have the option if he decided they were deserved. On January 4, Barbier amended his order to clarify the order would only affect claimants who hadn’t received a determination letter from the BP fund as of December 31.
That clarification has not appeased lawyers for clients seeking compensation from the fund, known as the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, which is being administered by Kenneth Feinberg. At least seven motions were filed Wednesday and Thursday asking Barbier to reconsider his order.
Lawyers who are appointed to lead complex litigation often ask courts to impose a common-benefit fee on resulting settlements and judgments to compensate them for their work
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