$100 million 'final distribution' nears in Exxon case

After nearly two years of handing out winnings from the Exxon Valdez oil spill case, the court-appointed administrator of the process is now talking about a "final distribution."

Lynn Sarko lays out the plan in this 15-page declaration.

Unless you're just itching to decipher this complex document yourself, let me give you some highlights:

• The final distribution will be big, more than $128 million.

• As in past rounds, this distribution will go out in stages. Fishermen and other plaintiffs with no holds on their claims will get their money first. The initial release will be around $100 million.

• Payments could come in December, but January is more likely.

• People in almost claim categories will share in the final distribution.

• Sarko, the administrator, reckons it'll take until 2014 to fully wrap up this case. That is, for example, to deal with claims that have multiple liens against them, to work out disputes among fishing partners over how to divide a claim, or to handle instances of bad addresses or checks never cashed.

• Any "residual funds" will be distributed by year-end 2013.

One final note: Lists for the final distribution showing the amount each claimant is due (before deduction of attorney fees) have been filed in federal court in Anchorage. Normally I would post these lists, but this time Deckboss can't afford the considerable cost to download them from the Pacer court records database. I'll get them somehow.

Anyway, looks like the end of the Exxon Valdez ordeal is finally on the horizon.

Who remains in line for Exxon Valdez money?

Lawyers in the Exxon Valdez case made some really important filings on Friday.

First, they posted yet another list of people soon to receive money.

The list has 407 names from 26 claim categories. These claimants will split nearly $8.6 million, minus attorney fees.

Another filing is this declaration from Lynn Sarko, the Seattle lawyer whose firm is handling the distribution of Exxon Valdez punitive damages.

The declaration spells out how much money has been distributed so far, and who can expect money in the coming months. Highly recommended reading!

Here are a few key points from the court papers I reviewed:

• After the U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year, lawyers for commercial fishermen and other plaintiffs worked a partial settlement with Exxon Mobil Corp. for about $383 million.

Once this latest batch of payments goes out, likely by August, more than 90 percent of the settlement money will have been distributed.

• The lawyers plan to hand out the rest of the money over several rounds.

One round will go to “unoiled fisheries.” Another round will go to people in “the smaller remaining claim categories” such as various shellfish fisheries in Cook Inlet, Kodiak and Prince William Sound.

• If I’m reading it correctly, the Sarko declaration says none of the $383 million will be going to claimants in the cannery worker category.

It’s not quite clear to me why not.