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Escambia Schools Consider Four Out Of Town Law Firms To Sue BP
October 1, 2010
The Escambia County School District was set to vote Thursday on hiring four out of town legal firms to sue over the Gulf oil spill, but the contract was pulled from the agenda.
According to an attorney employment contract that had been on the agenda for Thursday afternoon’s school board special meeting, the school district is seeking legal relief against BP, Tranocean, Ltd., Halliburton Energy and related companies. The board is seeking reimbursement for losses incurred as a result of the summer oil spill, including decreased tax revenue.
Four firms were to be hired by the school district: Nix, Patterson & Roach in Texarkana, Texas; Harrison, Sale, McCloy, Duncan & Jackson in Panama City; Harrison Rivard in Panama City and Carl R. Nelson in Tampa.
The Nix Patterson firm would receive 20 percent of any settlement, while Harrison Rivard and Harrison Sale would receive 10 percent and Fowler White would receive 7.5 percent. The attorneys would be hired on a contingency basis — if there was not financial recovery, the attorneys would not be paid.
School Board member Jeff Bergosh said he will not support the contract with the four firms until local legal firms are considered by the board.
“I have no problem with any of the firms represented in this contract–I just don’t know who they are,” Bergosh wrote on his blog. “I want to know why no local firms were considered. We have some highly qualified, nationally respected firms that are quite capable of representing us effectively. These well qualified local firms hire local residents and create jobs here in Pensacola. If all things are equal, I prefer to hire locally.”
The Escambia County School Board is expected to consider the legal services contract again at an October meeting.
Comments
23 Responses to “Escambia Schools Consider Four Out Of Town Law Firms To Sue BP”
Lets all face it, BP will some how go bankrupt and the tax payers will be stuck holding the bag !
i know that some children will always be below grade level. I just wish instead of schools saying the children will get the extra help then not going by their own plans for children they would just be honest and say that they have no plans to follow IEPs or the no child left behind, they will just do what most of us do with these children our best.
With the ECUA -County-Schools-and State Crap,they wonder why people want to move, I am looking in Ala before it gets to the point I cant afford it..OUR LEADERS ONLY LOOK OUT FOR THERE OWN SELF AND THERE FAMILY. at our expense. when every one is gone what are they going to do then…..
REGARDING:
“I know children that are so below their grade level and the schools are not following the IEP because there is not enough teachers at the school.”
You may not believe this, but there are a number of special needs children who could have a dozen tutors a piece of the highest caliber and they would still be below grade level.
David for appropriate education
Just WHY is the ECSD sueing BP ? What is their reason for this. I don’t believe it effected the schools. CRAZY MONEY HUNGARY BUNCH.
Ok so the school system is going to sue BP really this is getting crazy. I have been thinking that maybe all of the parents and students who have issues with the no child left behind should sue they school system for not doing what they should. the system continues to leave children behind by not helping the children with special needs classes are not equiped schools do not have enough teachers for these children. really people its time to take a stand and let them know enough is enough. The school system is going to sue for what? Lets sue them for somthing real leaving children behind and not caring. I know children that are so below their grade level and the schools are not following the IEP because there is not enough teachers at the school.
lawyers can’t suck without someone else using their services. in this case it even seems they are wondering which set of lawyers can suck hardest
I think this is all about the bloodsucking lawyers that have ruined our country. I guess if you can sue someone when you spill hot coffee on yourself then hey why not.
Well we are all going to and have been paying more for everything in Florida. So can I Sue them? How bout our government raising taxes. Can I Sue them too?
Rick’s Blog posted that through August, Escambia county (that includes Pensacola Beach) bed tax revenue was down 5% year-to-date.
REGARDING:
“I dont know about you but my Property taxes went up”
Neither you nor I live on the beach, therefore we don’t count for the lawsuit but the ones who do, do.
The whole concept strains the imagination.
Perhaps we should all call Levin & Papantonio and file suit against BP too – say for “decreasing our personal happiness”, or “creating a foul atmosphere (not the kind we breathe)”.
During the worst of it, we had to leave the area! Perhaps we should sue for that too…recover the expenses associated with Fleeing the Spill Area….I don’t know, I never sued anyone for anything, even though there were a few times in my life that I might have “won” such a lawsuit…it always seemed like a nonsensical way of doing things, the only winners in a lawsuit are the lawyers.
Perhaps the School System could pursue something better, like improving the education for our future citizens. From the looks of the crime articles lately and the offenders that commit these crimes, it seems they could use some improvement…
I agree with many of the post ,but David spoke about property taxes going down in value, Idont know about you but my Property taxes went up,and as for the schools sueing BP.Its all about money, I am them appx 65% tax to schools anyway.the county will say property values have gone down,but there tax bill has gone up.
Get Real!!! I suppose all of us unemployed in the rural area should sue since we have to drive 45 miles now to find employment and still can’t get a job because of the competition due to the OIL SPILL!!!!! You need to learn to adapt like we have and just be thankful you have a job!!!!!!! No pity here!!!
Maybe you should start by reducing board members salaries and go fight for more more lotto money to go to schools instead of most going to colleges. Because in this economy most children will not even have an opportunity financially to attend college but all will attend school!!
You just really don’t see how pathetic this sounds.
See you at the polls! Out with the old, in with the new!!!!!
Wow, it sounds a little absurd to me. I can see Pensacola Beach elm. school having a legal gripe, but the rest of the county (school’s) I don’t think has a legal leg to stand on.
REGARDING:
“And why is the school board suing BP?”
Because that’s where the money is.
The rationale is that the events of the summer lowered property taxes and sales which would have added money to school budget. Just think for every million dollar drop in property value, there is a drop in property taxes going to education. for some unknown reason, a view of an oil slick isn’t as valuable as a view of white sand.
a good idea, the lawyers need more money skimmed off the top of what we would have gotten anyway
I would like to know what losses the escambia school board incurred because of the oil spill. Sounds like they wanted to jump on the band wagon to me.
And why is the school board sueing BP? I just need somebody to help me understand.
I certainly wouldn’t hire Levin-Papantonio. They hold onto your case until the statute of limitations is almost up and then boot you out on the street without any rhyme or reason. At least that’s how they did me and THAT is my opinion of that firm. I haven’t heard anything good about them yet, and I have been around a long-long time!!!!!!!!
Welcome to Florida: The sue happy state. But before the school board jumps off into litigaton, we should be asking questions like did it submit a claim to BP and have it denied; and if the board has not filed a claim, why not? I would think at a minimum that the board would have at least filed a claim some months ago.
And can some one tell me what kind of loss could they have had oh I know it really isn’t about a loss its about greed right.
I just don’t get it. Why is the school board trying to sue BP over the oil spill? Did I miss an article somewhere? Did they have to spend extra days teaching the students about the spill and the cleanup efforts? I’m sure everyone in the world, not just the impacted Gulf Coast could stretch their imaginations far enough to see that BP owes them some money! The way people come running when they hear a possible dinner bell nowadays sickens me. Where’s MY free money? I’m sure all sorts of people owe me money for something! The only winners are the lawyers, who certainly don’t need another luxury car or a *snort* beach house. I’ll go and try and read the PDF, maybe it will be spelled out there. For the record, I’m not saying what BP et al did was right, and that they should not pay for what they did (they should), but the SCHOOL BOARD?!?! This kind of lawsuit-happy crappy is the reason I have to pay extra for lawsuit coverage on my home and auto insurance. I can’t wait to hear the ‘whole cloth’ arguments as to why the school board needs money from BP. It’s not like they’ll spend it on the STUDENTS anyway.