Deepwater Horizon

On April 20, 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon Macondo oil well drilling platform tragically killed 11 workers and started the largest marine oil spill in U.S. history, releasing millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Hundreds of thousands of individuals and businesses suffered physical and economic damages.

After filling the administrative, review, and technology needs of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility from June 2010 to 2012, BrownGreer was appointed by the court to intake, review, and process to payment claims in the Deepwater Horizon Settlement Program established in the class settlement that replaced the GCCF process.

We also liaised with the National Center for Disaster Fraud and the DOJ to coordinate findings of fraud and assisted in trial preparations across the country. Overall, the program referred close to 2,000 matters to the DOJ.

This program paid over $12 billion on nearly 391,000 claims. We designed and implemented processes for the twelve different claim types outlined in the settlement agreement, issued determinations to and handled program communication with lawyers and unrepresented claimants, and opened and operated 21 satellite offices across the Gulf.