$1Million to Be Distributed In Lake Charles and Abbeville Friday

LAKE CHARLES, LA – June 10, 2010 – Some relief is on the way for commercial fishermen financially devastated by the Gulf oil disaster. The checks will be distributed on Friday in Lake Charles and Abbeville by Jeffrey Breit, a partner in the Norfolk-based law firm of Breit Drescher Imprevento & Walker.

Breit represents approximately 350 commercial fishermen who are seeking compensation for lost income. He will be distributing checks in the amount of either $2,500 or $5,000 as compensation for lost wages in June. Breit also said that BP is preparing checks for losses incurred by the fishing operations in May and is planning to also issue payments through him for July. The May payments are expected to arrive in about three weeks. Breit is receiving no fee for handling the payments.

The checks come at a crucial time for the commercial fishing businesses. With the Gulf oil spill closing in on 2 months, many are facing financial ruin with no relief in sight as a result of resuming fishing operations in the Gulf of Mexico. They are also some of the first payments received as compensation for losses. Breit attributed the swift resolution and payments to a prior relationship with BP.

“Fortunately for these clients, our co-counsel, Robin Greenwald, already had a relationship with BP due to a prior case,” Breit said. “They know us and recognize us as a bona fide conduit for these payments, eliminating a lot of the red tape, qualification for payment requirements and so on,” he added. “The result is a little bit of relief for these struggling businesses, with a promise of more to come. With the process streamlined, the fishermen have one less thing to worry about.”

The bulk of the payments will be handed out at 2:00 PM Friday at Comfort Suites, 1016 Martin Luther King Highway (LA 165) in Lake Charles.