Hood: Judge should rule in oil spill claims process

JACKSON — Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood says a Louisiana federal judge should correct deficiencies in the claims process related to the $20-billion victims compensation fund run by Ken Feinberg.

Jim Hood

Hood wrote Monday in a court filing in New Orleans that his state has an interest in how the judge rules on a plaintiffs lawyers’ request for the court to supervise communications between Feinberg and people seeking money from the fund.

Among other things, lead attorneys suing BP over the Gulf of Mexico disaster want the judge to force changes to a release form that requires people who get a final payment from the fund to give up their right to sue responsible parties.

Barbier has yet to rule on the Dec. 21 request. Feinberg’s office declined to comment on Hood’s filing.