Judge Critical Of Lawyers Handling BP Claims

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal judge says evidence clearly shows that a lawyer inside a court-supervised facility that handles damage claims over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill and two outside attorneys lied about a system of payments set up to help speed claims through the process.

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier's comments came Friday at the end of a day of testimony and arguments centered on allegations that Lionel Sutton III, a lawyer working for the center got kickbacks in exchange for helping speed through a law firm's clients' claims.

The proceedings before Barbier are not criminal in nature. None of the lawyers has been charged with a crime.

Barbier said that Sutton and two outside lawyers — Jonathan Andry and Glen Lerner — lied about the payments and acted unethically.