After the the Class-Action-that-didn’t-happen early on in Hurricane Katrina litigation, alternative resolution was made available. According to the website of the Jackson office of Baker Donelson, this option was the “brainchild” of the former assistant commissioner of the Mississippi Insurance Department (MID) and current Baker Donelson attorney, Lee Harrell:
Established the MID Hurricane Katrina Mediation Program and the U.S. Federal Court Mediation Program, which streamlined the claims handling process and resolved thousands of claims quickly and satisfactorily without lengthy and expensive litigation…
Others see Harrell and his brainchild in a different light – mediation fraud.
However, it would have been preventable mediation fraud had the Southern District Mississippi court taken oversight of the process as requested by Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood. Via a recently filed “Statement of Interest on Behalf of the State of Mississippi”, Hood has made a similar request of Judge Barbier for much the same reason he ask the Mississippi court to protect hurricane disaster victims:
The Attorney General’s Statement to U.S. District Judge Carl J. Barbier asks the court to take control in order “to correct the deficiencies in the GCCF as outlined in the PSC’s Motion and in this Statement of Interest, in order to facilitate the timely and just processing of claims…“I want Mr. Feinberg to continue paying claims, but I want the process to be transparent, fair and fast…”
Judge Barbier has additional incentive provided by he-who-didn’t-make-the-Steering-Committee. Continue reading “Twice right – Attorney General Jim Hood asks Judge Barbier to oversee BP claims settlement”