Today there was an excellent article in the Times Picayune about how Kenneth Feinberg and the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) are failing the fishermen in Louisiana. The article discusses how the GCCF has made ridiculously high claims payouts to people who did not necessarily deserve it, yet many fishermen who have been directly impacted by the BP Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico have not been compensated. Many fishermen who had valid claims have had their claim denied by the GCCF. Others have been paid significantly less than the amount of their losses despite strong documentation for their GCCF Emergency Payment Claim. The Times Picayune article recognizes that with the Louisiana shrimp season ending and the oyster harvesting severely restricted or non-existent, many fishermen, oystermen and crabbers in the Gulf Coast are becoming desperate, experiencing financial hardship, and are running out of options.

The GCCF is consistent about one thing: they do not give any reasons or justifications for the decisions they make. The GCCF and Mr. Feinberg are impossible to communicate with. When GCCF representatives do finally call back, they do not leave a number where you can reach them. It is absolutely insane.

As an attorney working on these cases, I can tell you this: dealing with the GCCF is incredibly frustrating. We will continue to fight to make sure that our fishermen and oystermen clients and other clients are fully and fairly compensated for their losses:

WARNING – DO NOT SIGN A RELEASE WITH the GCCF WITHOUT GOING OVER IT WITH A LAWYER. The RELEASE WAIVES IMPORTANT LEGAL RIGHTS AND the GCCF CLAIMS PROCESS DOES NOT INCLUDE ANY COMPENSATION FOR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, ETC.

If you need assistance with your GCCF oil spill claim, or if you are just fed up with the GCCF’s nonsense and want to proceed with a lawsuit, call a Gulf oil spill lawyer from Goldberg Finnegan at (888) 213-8140. If you are a fisherman, oysterman or waterfront business owner and you have not been treated fairly by the GCCF, then you should strongly consider hiring a lawyer to assist you. It is important that your GCCF claim meet the Oil Pollution Act Presentment requirements so that you can file a lawsuit in Federal Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana.