settlement

The Fifth Circuit, 2-1, rejected BP's argument that a court-appointed claims administrator has misconstrued the terms of a settlement, The Washington Post reports. BP further unsuccessfully argued that businesses claiming economic loss are receiving settlement money even when their injuries can't be traced to the Gulf oil spill, The Post further reports. The majority reasoned that BP agreed to a settlement in which plaintiffs wouldn't have to submit evidence that their claims arose as a result of the oil spill.

The New York Times reports on plaintiffs who are frustrated with a proposed $2.5 billion settlement for an estimated 8,000 lawsuits involving the all-metal hip device known as the Articular Surface Replacement or A.S.R., including that lawyers are set to receive one-third of the settlement, or $800 million.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau entered a $19 million settlement with payday lender Cash America, the Washington Post reported. Among other faulty practices, Cash America used robosigned a lawyer's signature on court documents, helping "the company improperly squeeze money out of at least 14,397 Americans, who are entitled to millions of dollars in restitution," The Post further reported.

We all like tax deductions (mortgage interest deduction, anyone?). Even though JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay $13 billion to the Justice Department, corporate leaders also probably like the fact that they can claim a tax deduction on part of that settlement as an ordinary business expense. The Washington Post reports on the introduction of a Senate bill and a House of Representatives bill that would change "part of the law that lets companies receive tax deductions on payments made to resolve allegations of illegal conduct." Currently, companies cannot deduct portions of accords that are penalties or fines for violating the law, but  governmental "agencies, however, rarely spell out whether the entire monetary figure should be regarded as punitive."

Another settlement has been reached in the class action brought by the kids imprisoned in juvenile detention facilities after two Pennsylvania judges were given cash by the facilities' owners, The Scranton Times Leader reports. "Three companies behind the private, for-profit juvenile detention and treatment facilities at the heart of the scandal that sent two former Luzerne County judges to jail have reached a settlement with numerous juveniles and parents, promising to put $2.5 million into an account to be disbursed for legal fees and to the families and individuals who are part of the class-action suit," The Times Leader also reports.

(My thanks to my husband, Jason Rearick, for flagging this development for me.)