NEW ORLEANS (AP) - BP and a team of plaintiffs' attorneys are urging a federal judge to extend a deadline for businesses and individuals to revoke their requests to opt out of a proposed class-action settlement of economic damage claims spawned by the Gulf oil spill.
Potential claimants had until Nov. 5 to revoke requests to be excluded from the settlement agreement. A court filing Wednesday asks U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier to extend the deadline to Dec. 15.
The filing says several attorneys with clients who opted out of the proposed settlement have asked to revoke them after the deadline.
During a hearing last Thursday, BP and the plaintiffs' attorneys asked Barbier to give his final approval to the deal.
BP estimates it will pay $7.8 billion to resolve more than 100,000 claims.
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