Wednesday, September 03, 2014

DHECC - BP files motion to remove Pat Juneau

BP motion to remove Patrick Juneau as Claims Administrator

Looks like the hammer is dropping.  AZ is cited no less than nine times in the motion starting on page 30, mostly from the interview material with Lionel Sutton.

This may be the beginning of a house cleaning, very curious to see how Judge Barbier responds.   

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

BP is starting to tear down the Agreement now that it has almost finished shafting the victims. They will get the Agreement thrown out in time to tell the PSC they don't get the $600,000,000 because the Agreement didn't go to completion! The PSC really believes they will get the money after watching BP screw everyone else?
Juneau's not really the problem, though he has not been the solution either. This has all been the BP Show!

Kevin said...

Anonymous:

Although they never gave you any notice, the PSC has already been reimbursed almost $32 million in "shared costs" (hotels, plane tickets, meals, expert witnesses, administrative costs, etc.). The first $22 million was reimbursed in February 2013, just 2 months after the settlement was approved. There is also a clause in the settlement agreement which says BP had to deposit $75 million in NON-REFUNDABLE fees into the kitty and that money belongs to the PSC no matter what becomes of the settlement.

Also what you're not considering are the fees received by the PSC members on their private client claims, including those expedited by Pat Juneau. Also, there may be the issue of fees received by PSC members as a result of co-counsel agreements and referral agreements they have with other attorneys and law firms whose clients have been paid.

The BP motion to remove Juneau is very important for so many reasons. IMHO, Mr. Patrick Juneau should voluntarily respond to the written discovery, produce the relevant files and testify under oath to show those damn BP lawyers they don't know what they're talking about!

Anonymous said...

Come on, Juneau really isn't a big problem here. He's done quite well handling this mess of a settlement. For the BEL, it is a formula based calc... not an interpretation like the GCCF. Everyone has the rules.

The percentage of claims handled correctly vs the few that you reference are fraction of one percent. I do agree that even that isn't acceptable but he certainly hasn't been a hindrance here. This is BP's endless pocket going to work here. Trust me, they knew all about those conflicts.
They had 100% open access to records from the GCCF... I'm sure they would have searched for his name in the files before agreeing to his appointment.

Jason Brad Berry said...

"Come on, Juneau really isn't a big problem here."

Keep telling yourself that, let me know how it works out.

Jason Brad Berry said...

It's pretty clear to me you haven't read the BP motion or the exhibits, Anon. You may want to do that before you posit an opinion.

Anonymous said...

The exhibits tell the real story. The ones on file are bad enough. One can only imagine what is contained in the many, many exhibits that were filed under seal.
IMHO Mr. Patrick Juneau will "retire" before any significant discovery.

Kevin said...

Jason:

Do you know who else had a job change that was announced in July 2011? Danny Clavier from Bourgeois Bennett who retired "effective April 30, 2011." Turns out Danny ended up with some type of position in Pat Juneau's office at the CAO, but resigned from that about the same time as David Duval whose aunt was a principal at Bourgeois Bennett. Small world.

Anonymous said...

BP claims that Juneau terminated his contract with the state four days before the PSC moved to get a special master appointed, but the termination was actually done weeks later and made "effective" prior to the motion. Does anyone suspect that he had the new job lined up before he quit the old one? Would that matter?

Anonymous said...

The vendors were marking up employee costs over 200%. To the tune of $14,000,000. Per month. Administrative costs are running over $10,000 per paid claim. No wonder BP is pissed.

Clay said...

http://www.theneworleansadvocate.com/home/10171264-123/former-city-hall-tech-chief

Speaking of the hammer falling...

Clay said...

BP found guilty of gross negligence http://t.co/aosu94Xl1w

Calph said...

That really is a stunning magnitude of administrative expenses- are there any public documents available breaking down how that $500m/year is spent?

Also, check out those citations- it's a sad day when BP is better at crediting American Zombie than NOLA.com is.

Clay said...

http://t.co/vo6FEEOcSe

Ousting Juneau seen as unlikely, Houston Chronicle

Anonymous said...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/11076036/US-justice-system-was-always-going-to-find-BP-guilty.html

But there is also another, larger issue at stake here. America has a longstanding reputation as reliable place to do business, with a legal system that is predictable and rigourous. By continually siding against BP, the US courts are putting that reputation in danger. The beaches of Louisiana have been cleaned up after the spill, but the Gulf of Mexico disaster has left the American justice system looking like an inky mess.

Jason Brad Berry said...

"The beaches of Louisiana have been cleaned up after the spill"

Nuh-uh! Cleaned up my arse. You want to go down to Wisner beach with me, bro? It's a never-ending barrage of oil washing in with no end in sight. BP has already pulled out of their responsibility there.

Don't give me that BP is a good corporate citizen schtick.

Anonymous said...

"The vendors were marking up employee costs over 200%. To the tune of $14,000,000. Per month. Administrative costs are running over $10,000 per paid claim. No wonder BP is pissed."

Putting aside the core vendors for a moment, anyone have an idea how Alpha Consulting Group fits into this budget wise?

Jason Brad Berry said...

Good question. I'm not sure but I think alpha was removed as a vendor and the employees were placed under another company out of Texas after Odom and Fisher were kicked out. Not sure about though.