BP Oil Spill Attorney-Stuart H. Smith-Is The Feinberg Claims Facility Fair?

BP Oil spill attorney Stuart H. Smith of Smith Stag, LLC, New Orleans, Louisiana, considers whether the "new" claims process, the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, will treat claimants fairly. Mr. Smith's clients, including Louisiana fishermen, are upset that Mr. Feinberg intends to pay not three but one year's wages under this process, and deduct any emergency funds fishermen received from such a settlement. Mr. Smith points out that the fisheries in Prince William Sound in Valdez, Alaska collapsed in year 4 following the Exxon Valdez oil disaster. Mr. Smith answers a common question - whether laborers who have traditionally been paid in cash and don't have the volumes of records BP demands should step forward and file their claim. What happened in the past is irrelevant under the law, as the Oil Pollution Act bases compensation on lost future earning capacity, not prior years' wages.

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News & Politics

Tags:

• British petroleum
• BP
• oil spill
• BP oil spill
• cover-up of oil spill
• Kenneth Feinberg
• Gulf Coast Claims Facility
• Independent Claims Facility
• Exxon
• Shell
• Exxon Valdez
• fishermen
• fisheries
• coastal
• environmental
• damage
• pollution
• file a claim
• tax return