There seem to be troubling legal and ethical issues with the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, which describes itself as "official" and "independent" and its administrator, Ken Feinberg, as "neutral" and "independent" (http://www.gulfcoastclaimsfacility.com), but which is not (contrary to general public impression) a governmental fund but rather a private fund set up by BP, which is paying Feinberg and his firm substantial amounts of money. Feinberg has been downplaying adverse effects and pressuring adversely affected parties to settle now for fixed limited compensation, with minimal information available about future effects and costs, and not only to give up all claims against BP but also to transfer all claims they have against other parties to BP, who will have no limit on its claims against those other parties. See http://centerjd.org/archives/issues-facts/CJDBPconflictF.pdf. The federal government has recently filed an unlimited claim against BP.
Disclosure: I am a member of the Board of Advisors of the Center for Justice and Democracy.
Richard Wright
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