Checks available for anyone who may have been affected

By KEVIN CHIRI

Publisher

RESERVE — St. John attorney Daniel Becnel Jr. has obtained a final settlement for what will be thousands of area drivers in the Shell-Motiva &#8220bad gas” lawsuit.

Becnel confirmed exclusively to L’Observateur on Friday that Judge Ivan L.R. Lemelle of the U.S. Eastern District Court signed off on a final settlement to the suit, which will now open the door for anyone in many states in the Southeast U.S. to file for checks if they believe their gas gauges were damaged by the fuel.

The suit arose in May, 2004 when drivers began reporting what they believed to be defective gas in a number of geographic markets located in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Defendants alleged that Shell should have known the fuel contained improper levels of elemental sulphur and/or hydrogen sulfide.

Becnel, a nationally known class action attorney, became one of the leaders in filing litigation in the case and later became one of the three lead attorneys in the case.

The settlement announced on Friday will allow anyone to file for a claim, even if they had not reported a claim at any time previously. Drivers who believe their gas gauges were affected by the fuel can receive $150 to repair their gauges, but can also file for additional compensation if they lost time at work, were inconvenienced, lost wages, for annoyance, and even mental anguish.

They may also file for use of a rental car, or even a hotel if they were stranded somewhere by their cars having problems, however they may not be compensated for bodily injury or property damage.

Shell has also agreed to donate $50,000 to either the American Red Cross or the Clinton/Bush Katrina fund, as part of the settlement.

Becnel said that Shell has already paid out $150 million on a voluntary basis to fix the problem and is now anticipating the case to be worth approximately $250 million. Attorneys in the case will be paid $7.9 million for settling.

&#8220We had a great relationship with Shell from the beginning, who seemed very willing to work this out,” Becnel told L’Observateur. &#8220And even the judge told us how surprised he was to first meet with us and see that we had already done so much to try and work to an agreement.”

Becnel will head up the settlement of the case by putting ads in newspapers, set up an Internet site and seek addresses for anyone who had sought a settlement. Anyone who is interested in being considered for a check can sign on to the case, and that claim will be reviewed. There will also be a one-time appeal for those who are initially rejected.

There will be a 120 day period after the ads appear in newspapers for anyone to sign up.

&#8220This is somewhat of a unique settlement since you didn’t have to sign on in advance to be part of the class,” Becnel explained.

The St. John attorney, who originally sought consideration for long-term engine problems in the case, admitted that after a year of using 36 experts in the case, he found there was no claim for bigger payouts for new engines.

&#8220We acknowledged that there was no evidence of that kind of problem from the gas,” he said. &#8220And we have no problem admitting that. We just wanted what was fair for those who were affected.”

There were 27 cases filed for the bad gas nationally, with Becnel and two other attorneys being appointed lead counsel in the case.