BP Plaintiffs Lawyer Accused of Failing to Pay $50K in Hotel Bills
A California plaintiffs lawyer who represented 153 plaintiffs in the 2005 explosions at a BP refinery in Texas has been asked to explain expenses charged to 22 clients—and to disclose whether he charged them for almost $50,000 in unpaid hotel bills.
Los Angeles lawyer Daniel Becerra provided a Galveston court with boxes of expense records on Friday, the Galveston Daily News reports. He responded to a request by Houston lawyer Joseph Gourrier, who represents 22 of Becerra’s former clients.
Becerra provided the records through his lawyer, but didn’t personally show up in court, the story says. He settled his BP cases three weeks into the trial, obtaining settlements of up to eight figures.
Gourrier told the Galveston Daily News in a separate story that he has a letter from the director of conference and convention planning at the San Luis Resort that claims Becerra didn’t pay $49,647 billed for two hotel rooms occupied for more than two months beginning on May 17, 2008. Gourrier says he wants to find out whether his clients were charged for the rooms.
Galveston police have no report on the hotel billing matter, and there has been no finding of misconduct by Becerra, the story says.
