NEW ORLEANS, LA – The administrator of BP’s $20 billion fund for Gulf oil spill victims says BP money is being used to pay $950 an hour to a law professor who backs his assertion that he is independent from the oil giant.
Fund czar Ken Feinberg told The Associated Press on Thursday he has agreed to pay New York University professor Stephen Gillers for his advice. Gillers produced a letter stating that Feinberg is neutral and not subject to BP’s direction or control.
Feinberg said the fund is billing BP separately for the advice. Feinberg has come under fire from some victims, lawyers and Gulf state officials who have questioned his independence and suggested he is a pawn in a BP effort to limit its liability.
