BP shareholders lawsuit

[Newventurer]

Seems like forever ago I received notice that there was a class action lawsuit by shareholders over misrepresentations BP is alleged to have made regarding the amount of oil leaking from the deep water well.

I was in the class and received a number of notifications and the final request for documentation that was a bit brutal and final. If you messed up the documentation you were not allowed a second chance to resubmit.

This week I received the notification that my claim was accepted and the amount that was ‘eligible’ for consideration of payment. I have had some experience with these in the past and the payouts can be quite disappointing.

We’ll see, they say the payouts should come in the next few months.

 

[OldShooter]

These things are a puzzle to me. The owners of the company sue themselves to collect money that comes out of their own pockets/aka shareholder equity.

Oh, OK, the lawyers make out like bandits. Now I understand.

 

[jazz4cash]

These things are a puzzle to me. The owners of the company sue themselves to collect money that comes out of their own pockets/aka shareholder equity.

Oh, OK, the lawyers make out like bandits. Now I understand.

Absolutely a play by the legal profession. Can be a legitimate action but mostly just a money grab. I bought BP after the spill as the stock was starting to recover when I thought the coast was clear. I was wrong and after five years I am finally barely above break even by dripping the fat divvy.
I only recall getting paid on one of many class action suits involving stocks that I own. I meticulously followed the action and calculated the value of my claim to be ~$600. I think we ended up with less than $100 due to volume of claims there just wasn’t enough to make shareholders while after the lawyers got their cut off the top.

I haven’t received any info about the BP class action so I guess I am excluded.

 

[Newventurer]

Update: received checks today totaling $6200 from my brokerage company with a note that of the 100,000 claims filed only 40,000 were accepted as valid therefore those 40,000 claimants received 100% of eligible claim amount.

I know there are no warm and fuzzy feelings about attorneys that deal in these things but in this case the system worked for us. Without their efforts we would not have received a penny.

Regarding the comments that this is owners suing themselves, that is really not the case, we had sold the shares long before this payment was made and selling (taking a loss at the time) was the only way to be eligible for a claim under the settlement.

I have 3-4 more of these things ‘out there’ and not expecting any of them to have this sort of payout, time will tell.

Morale to the story - when you get these things in the mail it may be worth your time to research and compete the paperwork. As I was completing their second request for info I almost gave up and nearly had myself convinced that it wasn’t worth my time.

 

[audreyh1]

interesting.

thanks for the update. Glad you got some serious compensation.

Thanks for explaining that the ex-shareholders were the ones compensated.

 

[jazz4cash]

Wow. Congratulations. I guess the system does work sometimes. My shares were underwater for a long time but now look pretty good and dividend is still fat.