"U.S. Judge Rejects BP Bid To Oust Gulf Spill Claims Chief"

"BP Plc has failed to persuade a federal judge to oust the administrator overseeing payouts to businesses and individuals claiming damages arising from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans on Monday rejected several arguments by the London-based oil company to remove the claims administrator, Patrick Juneau.

BP claimed that Juneau had a conflict of interest because he previously advised Louisiana over claims, made misleading statements about that work, and improperly sped up claims of people represented by the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee."

Jonathan Stempel reports for Reuters November 11, 2014.