Beach lawyer in right place at right time for Gulf fishermen

Louisiana has become something of a second workplace to Jeffrey Breit the past few months. The Virginia Beach attorney represents hundreds of Gulf Coast fishermen whose livelihoods have been imperiled by the oil spill. Breit has a history in the region, having attended New Orleans' Tulane University for his undergraduate and legal studies. But his current practice there largely is a result of happenstance.

It began with a May 1 phone call from a fishing boat captain seeking Breit's help securing compensatory payments that BP had pledged to watermen whose earnings have been affected.

Breit happened to be in New Orleans to deliver a speech at a conference, and the skipper sought out the attorney because of his work representing menhaden fishermen in personal injury matters and contract disputes.

Believing he had agreed to help a few commercial anglers, Breit was surprised to learn that his name had been passed to 260 watermen. His client roster has continued to grow, he now represents more than 500 fishermen.

An estimated 27,000 people work in Louisiana's seafood industry, including nearly 11,200 with commercial fishing licenses, according to state statistics.

Now Breit's work on behalf of some of those watermen appears to have enhanced his public stature. His name popped up in national news stories this week detailing disputes between BP and fishermen over how and when payments are made.

Breit publicly chided BP for "arbitrarily, unilaterally changing the rules" of how people are paid after the company agreed to cut checks every month, while simultaneously running "a $50 million ad campaign about how they want to make it right."

"That is an absolute falsehood," said Breit, a partner in the firm Breit, Drescher, Imprevento & Walker, during a telephone interview Friday afternoon from the Gulf. "They are making this hard, squeezing people."

Lost-wage payments covering May and June have been made, Breit said. Those due in July have been delayed without explanation from the company, he added.

July payments are being processed, a BP spokesman told The Virginian-Pilot. However, the company has begun requiring more documentation from claimants to verify lost wages.

Without supporting evidence of past earnings, BP spokesman Max McGahan explained, the company will provide $1,000 payments to qualified individuals this month.

That policy won't continue into August, when documentation will be required to receive payment.

Initially, BP offered a monthly payment of $5,000 to boat captains and $2,500 to deckhands in the wake of the spill.

The evolving policy is designed to verify rightful recipients, not an attempt to shortchange people, McGahan said.

"We will pay everyone who has a legitimate claim," he said. "There is no ceiling."

So far, the company has spent more than $3 billion on cleanup, compensation and other costs associated with the spill. A company statement issued last week indicates BP has received more than 98,600 wage claims and paid out more than $153 million.

That money is separate from the $20 billion escrow fund the company has committed to establish to cover ongoing spill-related costs.

Julian Walker, (804) 697-1564, julian.walker@pilotonline.com