US law firms in the Gulf of Mexico area have won some of the biggest compensation awards for themselves under BP’s settlement for the Deepwater Horizon disaster, reaping a “bonanza” caused by a misinterpretation of the deal, according to the oil company.

根据英国石油(BP)的说法，美国墨西哥湾一带的律师事务所利用该公司“深水地平线”(Deepwater Horizon)灾难和解协议，为自己赢得了一些金额最大的报酬，借助对和解协议的错误解释开辟滚滚财源。

Analysis of data from the court-sponsored claims programme shows that the average offer made to law firms for losses caused by the spill has been $812,000, BP says, more than three times the average for all businesses.

BP表示，对法院支持的索赔方案的数据分析表明，各律所因泄漏所造成的损失而得到的报酬提议平均达81.2万美元，是全部企业均值的三倍多。

Payments to law firms have been rising rapidly, roughly doubling during May and June to $1.5m per claim, versus an average of $756,000 in the previous two months.

律所得到的支付近期迅速增长，在5月和6月期间大致翻了一番，达到每起索赔案150万美元。与此相比，之前两个月平均为75.6万美元。

BP said the “perverse and outrageous results” were evidence that a misinterpretation of the settlement by Patrick Juneau, claims administrator, was opening the door to “absurd” awards that violated the aim of the agreement to compensate legitimate victims of the spill.

BP表示，这一“不合常理和离谱的结果”证明，理赔管理人帕特里克•朱诺(Patrick Juneau)对和解协议的解读有误，从而为“荒谬的”赔偿大开方便之门，这种赔偿尺度违背了和解协议补偿泄漏事件正当受害人的初衷。

In court last week, lawyers representing claimants argued that Mr Juneau was interpreting the agreement properly, and that BP was suffering “buyer’s remorse” after signing up to a deal that was likely to cost more than it had expected.

上周索赔方的代表律师在法庭上主张，朱诺对协议的解释恰当无误，而BP这么说是因为该公司在签署了一份花费超出预期的协议后遭遇了“买方悔恨”。

It is not known how many firms representing parties in the case have also filed for compensation for their own losses.

目前仍不清楚有多少在此案中代表各方的律所为其自身损失也提交了赔偿申请。

Mr Juneau has been allowing companies to make claims using records of their cash inflows and outflows, meaning that businesses with lumpy payments can cherry-pick comparisons to maximise the apparent losses they suffered.

朱诺允许企业用其现金流入流出记录来申请索赔，这意味着那些收入波动性很大的企业可以精心挑选数据比较，使损失最大化。

The company said that these claims, which were allowed by Mr Juneau and upheld by the US District Court, could cost it billions of dollars and is fighting those decisions in the appeal court.

BP表示，这类由朱诺批准、并得到美国地区法院支持的索赔，可能会造成该公司数十亿美元损失，该公司正就相关裁决向上诉法庭提起上诉。

The compensation payments for business losses are separate from the fees that many firms are earning for representing either victims of the spill or BP and the other companies involved in the disaster.

因企业损失而收到的赔偿，与许多律所通过代理泄漏事件受害人或BP及其他卷入这场灾难的企业赚取的佣金并不是一回事。

Firms representing claimants are allowed to take up to 25 per cent of the compensation paid, which has already reached $2.8bn. Lawyers on the plaintiffs’ steering committee are also allowed to share fees of up to $600m.

代表索赔方的律所获准从给付款项收取最高25%的佣金，目前赔偿给付总额已达28亿美元。此外，原告督导委员会中的律师还允许分享总计6亿美元的佣金。

Many other law firms have been able to file compensation claims because they can show interruptions to their revenues in 2010, the year of the disaster.

许多其他律所都可以提交索赔申请，因为他们能够展示，他们在灾难发生的2010年收入出现了中断。