Congress needs to restore funding to the federal court system or risk lengthy case delays, inadequate criminal defense counsel and reduced courthouse safety, an official with the Judicial Conference of the United States told Congress on March 20. Judge Julia Gibbons doubted the courts could function after the $350 million in sequestration cuts.
BP PROTESTS PAY OUTS
BP PLC’s U.S. subsidiaries have asked the trial judge to halt payout of Deepwater Horizon oil-spill claims under its $7.8 billion settlement, citing potentially billions of dollars in "absurd windfalls" to businesses with fictitious losses. BP asserted that claims administrator Patrick Juneau has agreed to calculate lost profits using a formula that violates the terms of the settlement agreement.
