In The News . . . . E.D. La. Federal Judge Caps Fee Recovery From BP Settlement To 25% For Each Claimant Plus “Reasonable Costs”

     Above:  Student nurses’ “capping”ceremony.  1943.  Library of Congress.  Photographer:  Ann Rosener (1914-2012).

     As reported by Reuters in a post on Friday, June 15, 2012, U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier of the Eastern District of Louisiana (in New Orleans) last month gave preliminary approval to a $7.8 billion settlement that BP reached to resolve 10,000 claims resulting from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

     This last Friday, District Judge Barbier ruled that attorneys for plaintiffs who settle claims through the settlement must cap their contingency fee arrangements at a ceiling of 25% of any recovery a plaintiff receives plus “reasonable costs,” although he did indicate that this did not keep attorneys from entering into lower percentage arrangements.

     *“I have just received yours of the 16th, with check on Flagg & Savage for twenty-five dollars. You must think I am a high-priced man. You are too liberal with your money. Fifteen dollars is enough for the job. I send you a receipt for fifteen dollars, and return to you a ten dollar bill.” –Abraham Lincoln, Letter to George P. Floyd, February 21, 1856.

Abraham Lincoln.  1858.  Library of Congress.