Kyle Barnett News

Another fraudulent claim identified by special master in BP case; investigator requests $240K repayment

By Kyle Barnett |
NEW ORLEANS – An Alabama man has been ordered to return hundreds of thousands of dollars he received in an alleged scheme to defraud the claims program in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill program.

Judge rules BP will not get restitution for claims paid under flawed calculations

By Kyle Barnett |
NEW ORLEANS – A federal judge has denied BP’s request to reclaim hundreds of millions of dollars in claims payments the company says would not have been paid to Deepwater Horizon oil spill claimants if a settlement agreement had properly been followed from its inception. 
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Judge asks accused to defend actions in alleged BP 'money laundering' scheme

By Kyle Barnett |
NEW ORLEANS – Four attorneys accused of corruption in the massive Deepwater Horizon oil spill settlement were called before a federal judge this week to explain why they shouldn’t be sanctioned or barred from representing claimants in the case.
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Lloyd’s of London sued after alleged breach of contract, bad faith claims handling post-Hurricane Isaac

By Kyle Barnett |
NEW ORLEANS – A man is suing his insurance company for allegedly undervaluing damage to several of his properties following Hurricane Isaac.
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Fifth Circuit allows federal safety board review Transocean's role in Deepwater Horizon incident

By Kyle Barnett |
NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board will be allowed to conduct an in-depth investigation into Transocean’s role in the 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.
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Former Deepwater Horizon claims administrator asks Supreme Court to review case

By Kyle Barnett |
NEW ORLEANS – The former Deepwater Horizon claims chief has filed a brief asking the nation’s highest court to weigh in on the question of whether oil spill claimants should be required to show proof of damage from the Gulf oil spill before collecting settlements from oil giant BP PLC.
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Morris Bart meltdown: La. attorney attacked at law firm building by co-worker’s husband

By Kyle Barnett |
NEW ORLEANS – An attorney at one of the largest plaintiff’s firms in Louisiana was sent to the hospital recently after being attacked by the husband of a co-worker who alleged the two were having an affair.
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After cases of alleged fraud exposed, claims administrator says tax documents not routinely verified in claims

By Kyle Barnett |
NEW ORLEANS – After investigators found that two high-profile claims in the BP oil spill case were based on fraudulent tax documents, the man tasked with paying settlements says he has no plans to routinely authenticate IRS filings of claimants prior to cutting a check.
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BP spokesman tells environmental journalists they got it wrong

By Kyle Barnett |
NEW ORLEANS – In a speech given to the Society for Environmental Journalists on Sept. 3, BP spokesman Geoff Morrell told the group that he was discouraged by speculative reporting that took place during and after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill regarding the impact the spill would have on the environment.
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Deepwater Horizon special master Louis Freeh recuperating from car accident

By Kyle Barnett |
NEW ORLEANS – Former FBI director Louis Freeh, who has investigated claims of fraud in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill claims process, released a statement days after he was seriously injured in a single car accident in Vermont.
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BP files motion to remove Patrick Juneau as claims administrator

By Kyle Barnett |
NEW ORLEANS – Oil giant BP PLC has filed a motion to have Patrick Juneau removed as claims administrator in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill litigation, arguing that he is biased and has not been forthcoming about potential conflicts of interest.
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Deepwater Horizon investigator Louis Freeh seriously injured in auto accident

By Kyle Barnett |
NEW ORLEANS – The special investigator in the ongoing BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill case charged with rooting out corruption within the claims process has been seriously injured in an automobile accident.
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Plaintiffs’ attorneys strategize behind closed doors on BP claims process

By Kyle Barnett |
NEW ORLEANS – The recent implementation of a new accounting system in the BP Deepwater Horizon settlement has slowed claims payments to a crawl, creating lots of uncertainty about who will be paid in the future, the lead attorney in the case told fellow plaintiffs’ attorneys last week at a conference sponsored by the Louisiana Association for Justice.

Civil rights class action brought against state of Louisiana on behalf of mentally ill prisoners

By Kyle Barnett |
BATON ROUGE – A number of people who have been diagnosed with mental illnesses and found not guilty by reason of insanity are suing the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals over their continued incarceration.

New Deepwater Horizon claims calculation formula could sharply reduce future settlement payments

By Kyle Barnett |
NEW ORLEANS – An arcane change to the formula that determines awards for settlement of BP oil spill claims may diminish the size of future damage awards, leading some in the trial bar to say that senior plaintiffs’ attorneys who brokered the settlement with BP are more interested in preserving their $660 million payday than in protecting the rights of victims still awaiting payment. 
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Juneau defends negative statements made about BP’s CEO

By Kyle Barnett |
NEW ORLEANS – Deepwater Horizon Claims Administrator Patrick Juneau said he was not threatening to sue the chief executive of BP PLC when he told a Lafayette newspaper recently that the oil executive had publicly disparaged his reputation to a degree that was “actionable.”
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BP denies defamation charges brought by New Orleans attorney

By Kyle Barnett |
NEW ORLEANS – After being hit with a defamation lawsuit by a New Orleans area attorney who claims his law firm was mistaken with that of his brother’s in BP advertisements and an Associated Press story regarding the Deepwater Horizon claims process, a BP spokesman has said the lawsuit is baseless.
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Legacy lawsuits to be revealed in in-depth WWL series 'Tainted Legacy'

By Kyle Barnett |
NEW ORLEANS – The full extent of the controversy surrounding legacy lawsuits, in which lawsuits are filed against primarily oil producers over environmental damage, is being examined in a multi-part series by reporters David Hammer and Mike Perlstein that began airing on WWL-TV in New Orleans on July 8.
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Claims expert critical of BP under fire for alleged conflict of interest

By Kyle Barnett |
NEW ORLEANS (Legal Newsline) – A Loyola University professor who has held himself out as an impartial expert on the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill has a stake in a claim against the energy giant, court documents show.
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Business owner sued by attorney over comments made on TV questioning attorney’s ethics

By Kyle Barnett |
GRETNA – A local business owner is being sued by a local attorney who won a judgment against him after he allegedly made defamatory statements about him.

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