FRLA and Ken Feinberg Meet in Destin

July 28, 2010 – FRLA members met privately with Claim Czar Ken Feinberg prior to his testimony before the Governor’s Oil Spill Economic Recovery Task Force meeting in Destin, Florida. The industry roundtable included members of the local hospitality and tourism industry of Northwest Florida, including FRLA Secretary and Treasurer Bruce Craul, who hosted the roundtable and task force meeting at the Emerald Grande at Harbor Walk Village. Click on the video to hear FRLA President and CEO Carol Dover discuss ways to streamline the claims form process and town hall meetings to be held in NW Florida.

Florida bets on Feinberg

July 28, 2010 – CNN Money talks with FRLA’s Carol Dover on managing the claims process and reports the three criteria by which to assess the eligibility of a claim.
http://money.cnn.com/2010/07/28/smallbusiness/feinberg_claims_destin_florida/

Lawmakers Hint at September Special Session in November

August 6, 2010 – Capitol News Service’s Whitney Ray reports that legislative leaders may delay a special session to provide relief to gulf coast residents who have lost jobs and money because of the BP oil spill. A session was tentatively scheduled for September, but some high ranking state senators are starting now saying it could be November before they hold a session on helping Floridians hurt by the spill.

When lawmakers met in July for a special session on oil drilling, a vote was taken to go home with the promise to try to come in September, but with the leak capped and the oil disappearing the urgency may start waning.

Carol Dover the President of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association doesn’t want the pain her members are feeling to be forgotten.

“The perception is that if it gets cap then the oil just automatically goes away and all of our problems go away. I have to tell you, in fact, for us now it’s worse,” said Dover.

– See more at: http://frla.org/government-relations/oil-spill-updates/item/419-lawmakers-hint-at-september-special-session#sthash.tmCuiark.dpuf

Local economist says BP should offset tourists’ lodging costs

August 12, 2010 – The Northwest Florida Daily News reports that local economist Rick Harper says the best way to boost the economy, while efficiently utilizing BP’s money, is to “subsidize tourism” by offering hotel vouchers to visitors.

Jeanne Dailey, president of Newman-Dailey Resort Properties, says the concept of “subsidizing tourism” is something that is being discussed by the Okaloosa County TDC, and already being implemented by the Florida Lodging and Restaurant Association and the Walton County TDC.

Keep pressure on BP to pay claims

August 16, 2010 – FRLA Chairman Keith Overton is mentioned in Monday’s St. Petersburg Times editorial “Keep pressure on BP to pay claims.”

Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association Offers Members Legal Recourse for Oil Spill Claims

August 25, 2010 — The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association (FRLA) today announced a partnership with three respected and nationally-recognized law firms to offer legal representation to those hoteliers and restaurateurs who have either had their claims rejected by BP, or have yet to receive any economic recovery dollars to date. The three firms selected include Weitz & Luxenberg, Levin Papantonio, and Cooney & Conway.

“Our Association believed it could avoid litigation, hoping that the BP claims process would fairly and fully compensate our collective losses,” said Carol Dover, President and CEO of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association. “But as the BP claims process denied requests for emergency payments and/or paid merely pennies on the dollar in interim payments to our members, we realized we had to seek legal counsel now to protect our membership and the future of Florida’s tourism.”

This consortium of firms are well known for complex and mass tort litigation and for litigating against the largest corporations in the world and have pledged to work together on behalf of FRLA to obtain the best recovery available for FRLA members.

“Ken Feinberg should reconsider his proximity definitions. If he does not, it will cause bankruptcies that could be saved through emergency payments from the fund,” said Perry Weitz, founding senior partner of Weitz & Luxenberg. “Whether you are in the Panhandle or whether you are in the another part of Florida, tourism has been down as a result of the oil spill and the media attention and will not recover for many years, causing economic loss of revenue and profits for hotels and restaurants throughout the state.”

If members have previously submitted an interim or final claim to the BP fund, and regardless of whether the member was paid by BP and/or received a claims number, they must resubmit their claim to the Gulf Coast Compensation Fund (GCCF). FRLA members are encouraged to go to www.FRLA.org to link to our legal counsel and begin the claims process once again.

“It’s essential that Mr. Feinberg and the representatives of British Petroleum make good on their early promises in the media to make this right,” said John Cooney, founding partner of Cooney & Conway. “They have assured people throughout the Gulf region that their carelessness will not ruin businesses. It is now time to prove that,” continued Cooney.

“Levin Papantonio is proud to represent the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association in the fight to obtain fair compensation for its members due to the reckless conduct of BP, Transocean, Halliburton and all other parties responsible for the tragedy of the Gulf oil spill,” said Brian Barr, lead counsel for the Levin Papantonio Law Firm’s Environmental Department. “The losses suffered by restaurant and hotel owners all over this great state as a result of BP’s carelessness are staggering. BP does not seem to believe the true cost of its conduct. It will be our job to recover these losses for these Floridians and force BP to pay for the human and financial cost of their lawless conduct.”

In addition, the Association will be hosting local claims briefings with our team of attorneys beginning in Northwest Florida in the coming weeks. This will allow for maximum outreach to our local hoteliers and restaurateurs and the ability to walk them through the expedited claims process. Please check back with www.FRLA.org for a list of scheduled briefings in the region.

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About Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association (FRLA)
FRLA’s mission is to Protect, Educate and Promote Florida’s hospitality industry – which represents a $57 billion industry, 20% of Florida’s economy, $3.4 billion in sales tax revenue, and more than 900,000 employees, making it Florida’s largest employer. In the wake of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill that has devastated areas of Northwest Florida, FRLA has led the charge in representing the industry through marketing, communications, tourism briefings, claims procedures, and paid advertisements to let the world know that Florida is Open for Business. FRLA is among the most influential trade associations in Florida, counting among its members some of the largest businesses across the state in lodging establishments, restaurants, and thousands of suppliers to the industry. For more information, go to www.FRLA.org.

About Weitz & Luxenberg
With its principal office in New York and additional offices in New Jersey and California, they have over 70 attorneys and a support staff of approximately 300. It was founded in 1986 by Perry Weitz, who is one of the most respected and experienced plaintiffs’ trial attorneys in the country. Of particular importance is Perry’s relationship with Ken Feinberg; they have worked together on large scale litigations for over 20 years and that history resulted in Perry and his firm heading a small committee of law firms negotiating the interim/emergency payment claims protocol on behalf of victims of the oil spill. No attorney in the country has a longer and closer working relationship with, and thus better access to, Ken Feinberg than does Perry.

Perry’s partner, Rob Gordon, is the firm’s chief trial attorney, having tried over 70 cases in his distinguished legal career. Robin Greenwald heads the firm’s environmental tort unit, and she has spent her entire 25+ years as a litigator advocating for the environment and victims of pollution, many of those years as a federal environmental prosecutor. Perry, Rob and Robin were the 2009 Finalist for Public Justice Trial Lawyer of the Year Award. www.WeitzLux.com

About Levin Papantonio
This law firm probably needs no introduction in our State, as Fred Levin, the firm’s founder, is an icon of the Florida trial bar. In 1999 Fred was named the Best Civil Litigator in Florida by the National Law Journal, and that same year the University of Florida Law School was renamed the Fredric G. Levin College of Law. Fred’s partner, Mike Papantonio, is the Firm’s chief trial attorney, is a nationally syndicated radio talk show host and was a 2007 Finalist for the Public Justice Trial Lawyer of the Year Award. www.LevinLaw.com

About Cooney & Conway
Founded in 1958, is a Chicago based firm with over 20 attorneys and 100 support staff. John Cooney, the firm’s managing partner, is recognized throughout the country for his leadership in plaintiffs’ mass tort litigation. John also has worked with Ken Feinberg for 20+ years on multiple large litigations. John also was a finalist for the Public Justice Trial Lawyer of the Year Award. His partner, Bill Fahey, is the Chief of the Firm’s mass tort department, who has tried to verdict or negotiated settlements in excess of $3 billion. www.CooneyConway.com

FRLA Oil Spill Claims Information

September 2010 — The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association (FRLA) today announced it will hold 19 statewide briefings in 14 cities across the state in areas that have been impacted by actual and perceived oil along Florida coasts. Pensacola, Florida will serve as host location to the first meeting being held Monday, October 4, with Port St. Joe completing the tour on Wednesday, October 20, 2010. Three webinars currently scheduled for October 8, 19 and 26 are available to those unable to attend the briefings.

Click Here for Statewide Schedule for Regional Briefings

“Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association members have filed claims through BP and subsequently through the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, with no relief,” said FRLA President and CEO Carol Dover. “Many of our members are under the false impression they do not have a legitimate claim, when in fact they do. For this reason, we believe our members need to be fully informed about filing a claim for economic recovery dollars,” continued Dover, who also serves on the Governor’s Gulf Oil Spill Economic Recovery Task Force and its Economic Impact Assessment Working Group.

FRLA is working with the law firms of Weitz & Luxenberg, Levin Papantonio and Cooney & Conway. These firms will provide an overview of the claims process and assist in determining whether a claim exists for losses due to the BP oil spill and, if so, the extent of those losses going forward. The legal team will also be available to meet with attendees one-on-one to discuss individual claims.

The Association is encouraged by GCCF Administrator Ken Feinberg’s remarks at its September 14 annual board meeting in which he stated he is open to reconsider his blanket rejection of claims by hotels and restaurants that had losses despite not having oil on or nearby their property. Feinberg officially took over the claims process from British Petroleum on August 23, 2010.

August 2010 — The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association announced Wednesday, August 25 it will make available to its membership the opportunity to work with a consortium of law firms in order to file their claims through the Gulf Coast Compensation Fund (GCCF). FRLA is working with three law firms, Weitz & Luxenberg of New York, Levin Papantonio of Florida, and Cooney & Conway of Illinois.

The decision to participate or retain legal counsel remains completely to each individual member, and does not preclude one from securing other representation. This information is provided simply to brief members on available resources through FRLA and to be aware of important steps taking place to further protect our hospitality industry.

Through this consortium, there are no up-front costs to you. The firms will charge a contingency fee at the end of the claims process or litigation. Their fees are very fair and reasonable when compared to other similar law firms.

If you are interested in working with these firms, please contact lead firm Weitz & Luxenberg either by phone or any one of the three email addresses below.

Phone:
Sean McCue at 212.558.5587
Angel Hertslet at 212.558.5925

Email:
Robin Greenwald at rgreenwald@weitzlux.com
Curt Marshall at cmarshall@weitzlux.com
Lyudmyla Vayner at lvayner@weitzlux.com

* Please type on the subject line: “FRLA Legal Counsel Request”, followed by the name of your business. For example: FRLA Legal Counsel Request – ABC Hotel/Restaurant

For information about the firm specific to oil spill claims, please go to http://www.weitzlux.com/oil-spill_1961823.html

For a copy of the letter from FRLA to its membership explaining more about the process, please click here.

FRLA will be announcing soon a schedule of local claims briefings with our team of attorneys beginning in Northwest Florida. This will allow for maximum outreach to our local hoteliers and restaurateurs and the ability to walk them through the expedited claims process. Please check back with www.FRLA.org for a list of scheduled briefings in the region.

GCCF Administrator Ken Feinberg Open to Change in Proximity Language Re: Oil Spill Claims

September 14, 2010 – Gulf Coast Claims Facility Administrator Ken Feinberg today announced he will seriously consider changing his emergency protocol criteria to now include the payment of claims whether or not a Florida hotelier or restaurateur experienced oil washing up on their shore. Many in the hospitality industry have had their claims rejected due to the proximity issue, even though 26 Florida counties had been declared a state of emergency by Florida Governor Charlie Crist since the April 20 Deepwater Horizon explosion. Feinberg made the announcement during his remarks to the FRLA board members today, being held at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.

“I have suggested that people file their claims, get their proof, get their claim in shape where I can take a look and let’s see how many restaurants and lodging entities in Florida can demonstrate loss. I am keeping the lines open,” said GCCF Administrator Ken Feinberg. “I understand the need to either deal with this problem now or confront the possibility that hundreds, maybe thousands of large hotels, motels, restaurants in Florida end up filing lawsuits that I don’t think anybody wants,” said Fienberg.

“This is welcomed news for the hospitality industry,” said FRLA President and CEO Carol Dover. “Whether or not oil from the BP spill washed ashore on Florida beaches, the fact remains that the perception Florida was covered in oil along the coast had a tremendous impact on tourism. We are incredibly grateful that Ken Feinberg is more open to the proximately issue. This new consideration will allow thousands of hoteliers and restaurateurs recoup much needed economic recovery dollars to make them whole,” Dover continued.

The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association recently announced its selection of a consortium of attorneys well known for complex and mass tort litigation and for litigating against the largest corporations in the world. The three firms, Weitz & Luxenberg, Levin Papantonio, and Cooney & Conway, have pledged to work together on behalf of FRLA to obtain the best recovery available for FRLA members.

“I am pleased that Mr. Feinberg has now recognized that tourism claims should not be limited to businesses directly on the gulf, and that tourism claims under OPA and common law of different states allows tourism claims for economic injury regardless of where a business resides within the state,” said Perry Weitz, founding senior partner of Weitz & Luxenberg. “We hope that this inclusive approach will help business not only in Florida, but the entire gulf coast.”

“From the moment Ken Feinberg announced the fund’s protocol, we have been fighting to make the claims process more inclusive,” said Mike Papantonio, senior partner at Levin, Papantonio. “This is big step forward for all BP victims — from all affected states — but much work remains to ensure that every victim is made whole.”

In addition, the Association will be hosting local claims briefings with its team of attorneys beginning in Northwest Florida in the coming weeks. This will allow for maximum outreach to our local hoteliers and restaurateurs and the ability to walk them through the expedited claims process. Please check back with www.FRLA.org for a list of scheduled briefings in the region.

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About Weitz & Luxenberg
Weitz & Luxenberg, founded in 1986, is one of the leading plaintiffs’ litigation law firms in America. The firm has played leading roles in national and local litigations involving mesothelioma and asbestos-related lung cancer, as well as defective medicines and medical devices such as shoulder pain pumps, Yaz birth control, Zimmer Durom and DePuy Hip implants, Advanced Bionics cochlear implants, Hydroxycut, transvaginal mesh (TVT mesh) and Zicam, and general negligence and medical malpractice, among others. A forerunner in the legal fight against polluters, Weitz & Luxenberg has worked with clients harmed by the TVA coal ash sludge spill in Tennessee, industrial de-greasers PCE/TCE in groundwater and indoor air, the gasoline additive MTBE in water supply wells, hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and PERC/PCE in coal float-sink test operations. www.WeitzLux.com

Governor Crist Announces “Back to the Beach” Tourism Advertising Campaign

September 15, 2010 – As part of his ongoing focus on Florida’s economic recovery in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Governor Charlie Crist today announced $700,000 to speed the economic recovery for Florida’s hospitality industry affected by the oil spill. The Department of Business and Professional Regulation will return to the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association funds originally intended to support the hospitality industry for use in an enhanced advertising of upcoming coastal events. The campaign will work to attract potential visitors who may have postponed, or previously cancelled, their travel to Florida.

“Florida’s tourism industry is vital to the Sunshine State’s economic security, and we must do all we can to help the businesses harmed by this summer’s oil spill,” Governor Crist said. “I applaud our dedicated and friendly hoteliers and restaurateurs for their work to create a great getaway experience for traveling Floridians, as well as out-of-state and international visitors.”

The 10,000 members of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association (FRLA) will lend their expertise in grassroots marketing to the advertising and marketing efforts of VISIT FLORIDA and the local tourist development councils to promote local and regional events during the upcoming months. The advertising campaign, dubbed “Back to the Beach – ‘Fall Back into Summer,’” will encourage participation in fishing tournaments, concerts, a songwriter’s festival and seafood festivals to promote Florida seafood.

“This is incredible news for Florida hoteliers and restaurateurs as we work to bring visitors back to the Sunshine State – particularly to the Northwest Florida region,” said Carol Dover, president and CEO of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association. “Thank you to Governor Crist for his leadership and in supporting this ‘Back to the Beach’ campaign. This is a great time for tourists and residents alike to discover the beauty of Northwest Florida during the fall season.”

FRLA will also work to expand VISIT FLORIDA’s ‘Share a Little Sunshine’ campaign, which offers Florida residents online tools to easily extend a personal invitation to out-of-state friends and family, encouraging them to visit the Sunshine State. By listing the ‘Share a Little Sunshine’ Web site, www.ShareaLittleSunshine.org, on restaurant receipts, table tents and signs, Floridians and visitors will learn how they can send custom e-mail postcards to friends and family directly from the site. Each invitation carries information about special offers in the sender’s geographic area. The ‘Share a Little Sunshine’ Web site will also promote deals eligible at coastal hotels.

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Joint Letter from Governor Charlie Crist and Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink to Ken Feinberg

September 15, 2010 – A letter from Governor Charlie Crist and Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink to Ken Feinberg, claims administrator for the Deepwater Horizon Compensation Fund, requesting immediate action be taken to address the concerns Floridians have regarding the BP oil spill claims process.

The letter emphasizes the need for the claims process to become seamless and simple, including completing individual claims within three to five days and relying on the federal Oil Pollution Act of 1990 as the standard for evaluating all claims. The letter additionally requests the claims process be modified so that average citizens and small businesses alike can file claims without the help of legal counsel.

If you have any questions or need additional information, please call CFO Sink’s press office at (850) 413-2842.