On January 18, 2012, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana issued an Order Amending and Superseding the Court’s Previous Orders of December 28, 2011, and January 4, 2012 related to a 6% hold-back requirement on all payments made by or on behalf of defendants in the Multidistrict Litigation (MDL), including payments made by the GCCF. The Court’s January 18 Order now limits the 6% hold-back requirement to Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) claimants who have filed a suit in the MDL or a claim against Transocean in its Limitation of Liability proceeding in the MDL (“claimants-in-limitation”) or state court plaintiffs represented by counsel that had access to the MDL discovery process. The 6% hold-back does not apply to claimants who never filed an MDL suit or claim in limitation or state court plaintiffs whose counsel has not had access to the MDL discovery process. The Court’s January 18, 2012 Order can be found at http://www.gulfcoastclaimsfacility.com/AmendedandSupersedingOrderEscrowAccount1182012.pdf.
In accordance with the Court’s January 18, 2012 Order, the GCCF has noted the following:
- The Court-ordered 6% hold-back shall be applied to claimants who: (1) file or have filed an action in the MDL (whether through filing a complaint or a short-form joinder) or have filed a claim against Transocean in its Limitation of Liability proceeding; or (2) file or have filed a state court action and are represented by counsel that had access to the MDL discovery process (“MDL claimants”). The 6% hold-back requirements apply to all actions filed in or removed to federal court that have been or become a part of the MDL.
- For MDL claimants, the 6% hold-back will be applied to all interim, final and quick pay payments (and payments for claim preparation and assessment fees) made to claimants who were not issued a payment determination letter from the GCCF dated on or before December 30, 2011.
- For MDL claimants, the 6% hold-back shall be applied to all Quick Pay Claims received that are postmarked after December 30, 2011.
- The 6% hold-back does not apply to settlement payment offers (interim or final) made to MDL claimants with a determination letter dated on or before December 30, 2011.
- For MDL claimants who submitted a re-review request on a GCCF payment determination letter dated on or before December 30, 2011, you should contact the GCCF to determine if the re-review of your claim changed the interim payment or final payment offer. If there was no change in your payment calculations, you may withdraw the re-review request and accept the prior final payment offer in a payment determination letter dated on or before December 30, 2011, and it will not be subject to the 6% hold-back.
For additional information, please visit the GCCF’s web site at http://www.gulfcoastclaimsfacility.com/.