New Orleans
The Deepwater Horizon disaster happened in April 2010, and more than fifteen years later, the overwhelming majority of claim deadlines connected to it have long since closed.
If you’re researching a BP oil spill claim today, the honest first step is understanding whether you fall into the narrow category of people who may still have an option, and The Voorhies Law Firm will tell you plainly if you don’t.
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill produced the largest environmental settlement in U.S. history, resolved primarily through two major class action settlements: the Economic and Property Damages Settlement and the Medical Benefits Class Action Settlement.
Both settlements:
If you already filed a claim under one of these settlements, your case is likely governed by that settlement’s specific terms, not a new lawsuit.
If you never filed, your realistic options today are extremely limited.
This is one of the most time-barred practice areas on this site, and it’s important to be direct about that rather than imply otherwise.
Class members generally had a three-year window to file a claim from the date of the spill or the date the settlement was approved, and most of those windows closed by 2014 or 2015.
For people who were never part of the original settlement classes, a four-year statute of limitations from the date the damage occurred or was discovered generally applied to any separate lawsuit, and that window has also closed for the vast majority of situations.
The Medical Benefits Class Action Settlement includes a specific, narrow category for any Later-Manifested Physical Conditions, which include certain specified health conditions first diagnosed after the settlement’s original claims period. These claims can generally still be filed within a set number of years of that later diagnosis date.
This is genuinely the one category where a new claim could still be viable today, but eligibility is limited and depends on very specific diagnosis dates and condition types that are defined in the settlement itself.
Some individuals who opted out of, or fell outside, the class settlements have pursued independent lawsuits against BP, particularly for health conditions.
Reporting indicates the substantial majority of these independent cases have been dismissed, with only a small number still pending and very few resulting in payment, in part because BP has consistently contested medical causation in individual cases.
STEP 1
Free eligibility screening.
Tell us your diagnosis, when you were diagnosed, and whether you were ever part of either settlement class. We’ll give you an honest, no-cost answer, including if the answer is that you likely don’t have a viable claim.
STEP 2
Settlement class verification.
We confirm your prior claim history, if any, with the settlement administrator.
STEP 3
Later-Manifested Conditions analysis, if applicable.
We evaluate whether your specific diagnosis and timing fit within this narrow exception.
STEP 4
Medical documentation.
If a claim is viable, we work to establish the medical causation link BP is virtually certain to contest.
STEP 5
Filing.
We file within whatever narrow window applies to your specific situation.
STEP 6
Resolution.
Given the current landscape, this is a long-term, uncertain process rather than a quick claim.
Given how limited current options are, we primarily evaluate:
We’re not going to tell you this is an easy or likely path to compensation, because for the overwhelming majority of people researching it today, it isn’t.
What we will do is give you a straight answer about where you actually stand, and if there’s a real path forward, then we’ll build the case honestly from there.
The Voorhies Law Firm has recovered over $100 million for our clients across all our practice areas, largely in areas where Louisiana law gives clients meaningfully better odds than this one currently does.
A lot of firms will take a BP oil spill inquiry and string it along.
Richard P. Voorhies III and the team at The Voorhies Law Firm would rather tell you plainly, in a free call, whether you actually have a viable path forward before either of us spends time on it.
We’re recognized by Super Lawyers and other legal organizations, but with situations like this one, what actually matters is honesty about your odds.
If you do have a viable claim, you’ll have direct access to your attorney, not a call center, and no cost unless we recover for you.
For most people, no. The claim windows for both major settlements closed around 2014 to 2015, and a separate four-year statute of limitations for non-class claims has also expired for the vast majority of situations. The narrow exception involves specific health conditions diagnosed more recently under the Medical Benefits Settlement’s Later-Manifested Conditions provision.
Possibly, if your condition and diagnosis timing fit within the Later-Manifested Conditions category of the Medical Benefits Class Action Settlement. This needs individualized review, since eligibility depends on very specific criteria.
We can help you understand how to check on a claim you already filed, though the settlement administrator, not a new lawsuit, is typically the right channel for that specific question.
Largely because proving that a specific illness was caused by oil spill exposure, rather than something else, has been a difficult and heavily contested medical and legal question, and BP has consistently challenged that causation in individual cases outside the settlement framework.
No. The initial consultation is free, and we’ll tell you honestly if we don’t think you have a viable path forward.
