Kenneth Feinberg, the BP oil spill claims czar, was officially replaced yesterday by Patrick Juneau, a Lafayette, La., lawyer.

Feinberg has handed out $6.1 billion to 221,000 claimants. Juneau, who was named as Feinberg's replacement by U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier, will work with a new court-supervised process for doling out the $7.8 billion settlement that BP reached with plaintiffs last week.

The new settlement program has been touted as an improvement over the one Feinberg ran. Some claimants said he had not given them enough money for their claims.

Feinberg and Juneau plan to meet soon in person and with their staffs to ensure a smooth transition. Feinberg called Juneau a "superb choice" and encouraged claimants to use the new settlement claims program.

During his time as claims administrator, Feinberg processed 1 million claims from more than half a million individuals and businesses from all 50 states and 35 countries. Feinberg previously oversaw compensation for victims of the the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack and of the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings.

"Right now, I'm going to take a step back and return to teaching, writing a book about BP and compensation, and watch with great interest what transpires going forward in New Orleans," Feinberg said. "This has been a roller-coaster -- very challenging, very successful program, and major credit is owed to the president for working with BP in getting the $20 billion fund established, and great credit is owed to BP, too" (David Hammer, New Orleans Times-Picayune, March 8). -- JE