March 2014

Earlier this week the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals panel which opened discussion as to whether the Deepwater Horizon Settlement Agreement required those submitting claims for certain business losses to provide evidence of causation ruled on the issue. In a 2-1 decision, to which Judge Clement was the dissenting vote, the Court ruled that the Settlement Agreement did not require additional evidence of causation aside from the purely mathematical formula previously decided upon by the parties. Thus, the Settlement Administrator’s implementation of the Settlement Agreement was correct. As to the legal validity of the settlement, this panel deferred to the certification panel of the 5th Circuit who has already ruled that the settlement is legally valid.