Deepwater Horizon Incident and Economic Damages

Regarding the economic damages resulting from the Deepwater Horizon incident, in recent days, the process of claim review and subsequent payment has come under examination. For example, see this description (http://www.ag.louisiana.gov/Article.aspx?articleID=411&catID=1) of a state court action filed by the Louisiana Attorney General James D. “Buddy” Caldwell seeking information about the payment and processing of claims.

One can file a claim for damages for the following losses – bodily injury, property damage, loss of income -- using BP’s online claim submission form (https://www.bp.com/secure/iframe.do?categoryId=9033722&contentId=7062138). It appears that ESIS is the third-party administrator on behalf of BP. For further information on ESIS, see this page (http://www2.esis.com/ESISRoot/ESIS/) and this page (http://www2.esis.com/ESISRoot/ESIS/Services/Catastrophe+Management/).

This New York Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/02/us/02liability.html?scp=1&sq=Rising%20Cleanup%20costs&st=cse) from Wednesday, June 2, 2010, includes several interesting comments:

• “Because of its considerable profits and size, it does not buy outside insurance for such disasters.” That is, BP is self-insured.

• “Lawyers are planning lawsuits of every conceivable type in federal and state courts alike, seeking money for personal injury, lost business, damage to the environment and the sharp drop in the companies’ stock prices.” In addition, for lawsuits filed in federal court, the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation will conduct a hearing in July regarding where the cases will be consolidated.