The WSJ reported today that:
Plaintiffs' attorneys are scrambling to avoid being frozen out by a $20 billion fund aimed at compensating Gulf of Mexico oil-spill victims outside of court.
The attorneys had hoped litigation against BP PLC and other companies involved in the spill would net them tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars in fees. Many quickly turned their attention to the spill in April from what was then the mass tort of the moment, suits against Toyota Motor Corp. tied to unintended acceleration.
But the legal landscape shifted dramatically earlier this month when BP agreed to create a $20 billion escrow fund to pay individuals and businesses suffering losses from the spill.
Administrator Kenneth Feinberg has said the fund would pay claims far more quickly than lawsuits, which could take years in court. He also pointed out that claimants could avoid costly attorneys' fees by filing claims without a lawyer's help. Claimants who receive payouts from the fund would have to waive their right to sue BP.
Predictably, this has annoyed the plaintiffs' lawyers who were counting on making zillions off this calamity. In the plaintiffs' bar's world, at least 40% of that $20 billion should have been diverted into lawyer's bank accounts instead of paying claims to people who were injured. After all, they've got yacht and Gulfstream payments to make. Plus, they've got to funnel zillions of campaign contributions to Democrats who will pass new laws creating new liabilities for lawyers to use to bring ever more lawsuits.
Think I'm exaggerating? The Journal article concludes:
As prospects of an oil-spill jackpot for the plaintiffs bar became less clear, some attorneys ... were already looking elsewhere for potential targets. Several clustered around a newspaper article describing how two new studies had shown a diabetes pill was tied to heart attacks.
I rest my case.
