Gulf Coast Disaster - Wednesday, October 3, 2012 10:37 - 0 Comments

Any Business Could Have An Oil Spill Claim

As we reported previously, all businesses in the affected Gulf Coast states have potential claims arising from the 2010 disaster in the Gulf. To date, our firm has filed claims for businesses with a cumulative value of over $65 million, and we are continuing to review and file claims for our clients every day. Simply put, any business in the affected Gulf Coast region could have a claim based upon the oil spill settlement. To qualify in the settlement, the majority of businesses need only show that their gross revenues for three consecutive months between May and December 2010 diminished 15% as compared to the same months in either 2009, the average of 2008-2009, or the average of 2007-2009, and their revenues increased by 10% for the same months in 2011. Importantly, outside of what the settlement’s methodologies require, a business is not required to draw a connection between the oil spill and their drop in revenues.

Importantly, unless a business has signed a final release with BP, it does not matter whether the business participated in the BP claims process, the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, or filed a lawsuit in the New Orleans Federal Court. Neither of those events are required for a business to now have a right file a claim. All qualifying businesses that can show damages within the settlement’s framework will be entitled to compensation.

Our law firm has over 50 lawyers, in-house consultants and staff working full time on these claims for our clients. Aside from interpreting and explaining the 1,200 page settlement document, we work closely with trained financial professionals in preparing, and if necessary, arguing, our clients’ claims in the settlement. Importantly, claimants who accept a payment in the settlement will have a limited time to bring in all of their other covered claims. Otherwise, those covered claims will be lost forever. We are finding that a business or professional that has a business claim, such as a doctor who owns a doctor’s office, may also own a beachfront condo, which would also be a property claim under the settlement. Those are two separate claims. It’s very important to get professional advice on how to proceed with claims covered by the settlement. It should be noted that there is no aggregate cap on the amount of the settlement fund.

Lawyers and staff in our firm continue to review hundreds of business claims each week. If you have any questions about a potential claim or the settlement, contact either Rhon Jones, John Tomlinson, Parker Miller, Chris Boutwell, or Sandra Walters at 800-898-2034 or by email at Rhon.Jones@beasleyallen.com, John.Tomlinson@beasleyallen.com, Parker.Miller@beasleyallen.com, Chris.Boutwell@beasleyallen.com or Sandra.Walters@beasleyallen.com.