The deal is all but done. Now it's time to sell it.

Days after they announced a multibillion-dollar settlement, BP PLC and a committee of plaintiffs' attorneys are working out details of an agreement to resolve more than 100,000 claims spawned by the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

They must persuade a federal judge that the settlement is fair and equitable, but the sales job doesn't end there because the deal already has its critics.

Some attorneys who didn't participate in the settlement talks but represent thousands of plaintiffs question whether the court-supervised claims process offers a better bargain for their clients than the $20 billion compensation fund BP established in 2010. They can urge their clients not to participate in the settlement, though pursuing a claim separately in court could involve years of costly litigation.

Anthony Buzbee, a Houston-based attorney who represents about 12,000 clients with claims against BP, said he received a phone call Monday night from a Plaintiffs' Steering Committee member who briefed him on some of the terms of the deal. Buzbee had initially expressed doubt that the settlement could benefit his clients, saying it was "hard to keep an open mind when you're not getting any information" from the PSC.

His tone had softened by Tuesday, however. Buzbee said the PSC member assured him the court settlement's terms are "much more generous" than the Gulf Coast Claims Facility's claims processing formula.

"I'm going to withhold judgment on it and wait and see what the final protocols are going to be," Buzbee said.

Daniel Becnel Jr., a Reserve, La.-based attorney who represents about 1,500 clients with claims against BP, said he doesn't need to read the fine print of the deal to know he will advise his clients to opt out of the settlement. One of Becnel's concerns is that he says the settlement doesn't account for tens of thousands of people and businesses that haven't filed claims yet.

"They're starting to catch a lot of flak from a lot of people," Becnel said. "How do you settle a case without knowing what the universe is of the entire client population?"

Rig owner Transocean and cement contractor Halliburton also may challenge the deal in part because it seeks to assign certain claims BP has made against those companies to the PSC. Halliburton lead trial lawyer Donald E. Godwin said Tuesday that Halliburton is not currently in settlement discussions with BP or the PSC and that the company is preparing for trial.

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BP Settlement Architects Hope to Win Over Skeptics

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., March 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Moseley Architects, a leader in higher education facility design, is proud to announce that Richard Bland College's new science and technology building, James B. McNeer Hall, was the recipient of the Louis I. Kahn Citation as the top post-secondary entry in American School & University's 2011 Architectural Portfolio. An annual competition honoring education design excellence, the portfolio showcases projects that represent the most effective learning environments. A jury of American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on Architecture for Education members and education administrators evaluated submissions from architectural firms, schools, and universities across the country. This is the 29th year that the competition has been conducted.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120117/PH35523LOGO )

The LEED Gold facility is the first new academic building on Richard Bland's campus since the college was founded in 1960. The three-story building is home to biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics classrooms and laboratories; academic computing facilities; seminar rooms; faculty and administrative offices; and faculty and student lounges.

The 2011 Jury commented that the building "helps complete the campus quad in a nice way. It's a very-well detailed buildingon the inside and outside. There is a great sense of transparency. The consistency of the interior treatments and high-quality environment provides a dignified setting."

President Dr. James McNeer, for who the facility is named, expressed his excitement with the award. "Richard Bland College is honored to be the recipient of the Louis I. Kahn citation. This state-of-the-art facility will enable our students to receive the best educational experience in their respective disciplines of biology, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, and physics."

In addition to meeting the college's educational needs, Moseley Architects designed the project to include green building strategies in order to earn LEED Gold certification with the U. S. Green Building Council. Noteworthy features included a second-story garden roof and highly-reflective roof surfaces to reduce the heat island effect; efficient HVAC system designed to reduce energy use by over 34 percent; and the use of regionally-manufactured and recycled materials.

About Moseley Architects

Moseley Architects is a full service architectural, engineering, and interior design firm with six offices in the Southeast. The firm specializes in higher education facility design and offers clients extensive campus planning, programming, and design experience in a broad portfolio of collegiate projects, including academic, research, recreation, athletic, arts and student life. The firm is very focused on projects featuring high performance and sustainable design, with 36 LEED certified projects (ranging from basic to platinum certification) and 48 LEED registered projects.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Lisa Demmel 804.794.7555 ldemmel@moseleyarchitects.com

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Richard Bland College Facility Earns Louis I. Kahn Citation

PHILADELPHIA, PA--(Marketwire -03/05/12)- The Master Plan for the Central Delaware is a 2012 recipient of the American Institute of Architects' (AIA) Honor Award, the profession's highest recognition of work that demonstrates excellence in architecture and urban design. Selected from over 700 total submissions, 27 recipients from around the world will be honored at the AIA 2012 National Convention and Design Exposition in Washington, D.C. on May 18.

The American Institute of Architects has a long tradition of recognizing individuals and organizations for their exceptional achievements in support of the profession of architecture. The Institute Honor Awards for Regional and Urban Design highlight the renowned use of architecture in urban design, city planning, and community development and recognize projects that contribute to the quality of the urban environment. The Master Plan for the Central Delaware was one of eight awards distributed in the category of Regional and Urban Design.

This Honor Award acknowledges the vision and reality of the City of Philadelphia's plan for the future of the sweeping Delaware River waterfront. The plan strikes a strong balance between urban design and economic reality, proposing both public and private development to transform and regenerate six miles of waterfront. The plan focuses on implementing new parks, trails, and transit that will catalyze development. Projects will begin first at three priority sites: Spring Garden Street, Penn's Landing and Washington Avenue.

The AIA praised the master plan's goal of providing "a practical implementation strategy for the phasing and funding of public realm enhancements to the waterfront, including the locations of parks, a variety of waterfront trails, and connections to existing upland neighborhoods."

"The Master Plan for the Central Delaware is truly deserving of this honor," said Mayor Michael A. Nutter. "This plan lays out the necessary steps to transform Philadelphia's waterfront. Like many others, I am very excited to see new projects and development occur. I thank the AIA for this recognition."

The Delaware River Waterfront Corporation commissioned this plan which was prepared by an incredible team led by Cooper Robertson & Partners, urban designers; KieranTimberlake, architects; OLIN, landscape architects; and H&R&A, economic advisors. The Master Plan advanced the goals and objectives of an extensive civic engagement process led by PennPraxis to bring attention to the future of the Central Delaware River waterfront. Public forums and meetings continued throughout the master plan process, culminating in a public unveiling with over 500 community representatives and stakeholders in June of 2011 prior to the plan's adoption by DRWC.

"We at DRWC are delighted that the master plan is being recognized with this prestigious award, which advances our goal of regenerating the historic Delaware River waterfront as a distinctive and welcoming asset for public use and private investment," said Marilyn Jordan Taylor, Dean University of Pennsylvania School of Design and DRWC Planning Committee Chair. "The award commends not only the exceptional work of the master plan team, but also the commitment of the community members and numerous stakeholders whose participation has truly shaped this plan."

To view the final plan, please visit http://www.plancentraldelaware.com. The full list of master plan team members includes:

About The American Institute of ArchitectsFor over 150 years, members of the American Institute of Architects have worked with each other and their communities to create more valuable, healthy, secure, and sustainable buildings and cityscapes. Members adhere to a code of ethics and professional conduct to ensure the highest standards in professional practice. Embracing their responsibility to serve society, AIA members engage civic and government leaders and the public in helping find needed solutions to pressing issues facing our communities, institutions, nation and world. Visit http://www.aia.org.

About DRWC: The Delaware River Waterfront Corporation (DRWC) is a nonprofit corporation organized in January 2009, exclusively for the benefit of the City of Philadelphia and its citizens. DRWC acts as the steward of the Delaware River waterfront to provide a benefit to all of the citizens and visitors of the City.

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The Master Plan for the Central Delaware Receives Prestigious Award From the American Institute of Architects

BOSTON, March5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --The Financial Architects Partners, LLC, a leading estate planning life insurance firm based in Boston, today announced the opening of its fourth regional office in Minneapolis, MN(1), headed by Jon Christie. Mr. Christie will be joining Financial Architects Partners (FAP) as Managing Director. From the Midwest location, he will provide wealth transfer life insurance planning for ultra-affluent families and their advisors. He will be a resource for estate planning attorneys, tax specialists, family offices, and wealth managers helping to integrate the life insurance asset into the families' overall estate and financial planning.

Mr. Christie has over 25 years of life insurance industry experience. Most recently, he founded Christie and Associates in 1986 where he provided diversified financial services for the planning needs of small to mid-market corporations and affluent families. During this time, Mr. Christie focused on complex life insurance planning, designing unique and innovative solutions for each of his clients' estate plans.

David J. Carroll, CEO of FAP commented, "Minneapolis is an important community to us and adding this office enhances the FAP network. Jon Christie has the experience, skills, and reputation that we look for to represent the FAP team. We are thrilled to add Jon as a key member of our national firm, and we look to add additional key personnel to our Minneapolis office in the near future."

Financial Architects Partners is a 40 person firm with offices in Boston, Providence, Minneapolis and Palo Alto consisting of individuals with backgrounds in legal, tax, investment, and life insurance.FAP actively manages over $6B of trust owned life insurance for approximately 225 families. FAP is an independent provider with access to all top US and Canadian carriers and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of National Financial Partners Corp. NFP, and its benefits, insurance and wealth management businesses provide diversified advisory and brokerage services to companies and high net worth individuals, partnering with them to preserve their assets and prosper over the long term. NFP advisors provide innovative and comprehensive solutions, backed by NFP's national scale and resources. The partnership affords FAP significant carrier leverage in underwriting and product procurement.

(1) Securities and Investment Advisory Services are not available at this location.

Securities and Investment Advisory Services offered through NFP Securities Inc.

Member FINRA/SIPC. Financial Architects Partners is an affiliate of NFP Securities, Inc.

and a subsidiary of National Financial Partners Corp (NFP).

Not all individuals using these materials are registered to offer securities or

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Financial Architects Partners Announces Opening of Midwest Office

CHARLIE GATES

The life's work of two of New Zealand's most important architects has been largely destroyed in the Canterbury earthquakes.

Modernist architect Sir Miles Warren says the destruction of his built legacy is "dismal", while Peter Beaven is "shattered" by the loss.

Christchurch is renowned for developing a distinctive form of modernist architecture in the 1950s, 60s and 70s.

Warren and Beaven were two of the leading exponents of what became known as the Christchurch School, designing many groundbreaking buildings that have now been lost.

Beaven lost the SBS building and the Holiday Inn building in central Christchurch, among others.

Warren'smajor developments in the city included the Canterbury Savings Bank and the Crowne Plaza buildings.

Beaven lost his central-cityoffice in the February quake and has moved to Blenheim.

"I feel shattered really. It is just a huge, shattering loss," he said.

"I have moved to Blenheim. We couldn't cope with Christchurch.

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Architects 'shattered' by Christchurch's loss

ThoughtLeaderGlobal.com, a dynamic multinational networking organization and producer of targeted business media and events, will host a corporate IT forum, Enterprise Cloud Computing on April 19-20.

Amsterdam, Netherlands (PRWEB) March 04, 2012

Savvy IT directors currently implementing cloud-computing technologies will present a broad range of practical corporate experiences and related topics separately discussed at the Forum, including business development and technology advancements.

Cloud computing provides computation, software applications, data access, and storage resources without requiring cloud users to know the location and other details of the computing infrastructure.

This type of data center environment allows enterprises to get their applications up and running faster, with easier manageability and less maintenance, and enables it to rapidly adjust IT resources (such as servers, storage, and networking) to meet fluctuating and unpredictable business demand.

Attendees will learn about moving their organization toward a more efficient business mobile-enabled architecture, said ThoughtLeaderGlobal.com Marketing Manager Scott Rogers.

Technology continues to make impressive strides and this years IT Forum, to be held in Amsterdam, is seeking to enlighten attendees with the most up-to-date information.

The Forum will address the concept of cloud within the business model as well as illustrate its diverse services and its IT infrastructure, said Rogers.

In the current economic environment, companies are constantly searching for ways to decrease costs while increasing revenue, and cloud is a key enabler of savings opportunities, Rogers said.

Among the topics and presenters at the two-day event, according to the ThoughtLeaderGlobal.com statement:

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ThoughtLeaderGlobal.com Architects Change in the Cloud

OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- The selection of Texas and Mississippi architects to design the new Marine Education Center was announced Thursday in news release from Gulf Coast Research Laboratory.

Lake Flato Architects of San Antonio, Texas, and their local partner, Unabridged Architecture of Bay St. Louis, are to team with University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Laboratory staff to create the building, the news release stated.

The new center replaces the J.L. Scott Marine Education Center and Aquarium, which was located at Cadet Point in Biloxi and lost during Hurricane Katrina.

"We want this facility to be a model for building in this region," said Jeff Lotz, interim director of GCRL. "We want to be energy efficient, storm resistant, and appropriate to the landscape."

The new center is to be located on 224 acres at Cedar Point, which has access to marshes, Davis Bayou and the Mississippi Sound.

The Marine Education Center proposal is for a 32,000 square foot complex with a mix of public exhibits, classrooms, laboratories, meeting spaces and administrative offices. A system of trails, boardwalks and outdoor classrooms, already under construction, will take the learning experiences beyond the building to make it a true nature center.

The Thad Cochran Aquaculture Center is located at Cedar Point.

Two key research groups, microbiology and genetics, have moved from GCRL's Halstead Road location to the new Aquaculture Research Building at the site.

Also located at the site is the Aquaculture Visitor Center.

Robert Harris, principal designer for Lake Flato, states, "For over 25 years, Lake Flato has employed practical and thoughtful sustainable strategies that conserve resources, engage nature and promote healthful living. We are excited to work with GCRL to build an environmentally sustainable facility for science education in South Mississippi."

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Architects selected for GCRL's Marine Education Center

Architects have produced preliminary designs for Flathead Valley Community Colleges $5 million Rebecca Chaney Broussard Nursing and Health Sciences Center.

The designs were presented to the board of trustees on Tuesday.

College President Jane Karas introduced Corey Johnson of CTA Architects, who said the firm has produced about 50 percent of the construction documents.

At four and a half months to be at 50 percent is a pretty good clip, he said. We are right on target to hit a summer construction schedule.

Johnson said the schedule calls for going to bid in mid-April and awarding a construction contract in mid-May.

David Koel, senior design architect, went over preliminary drawings of exterior and interior features. He said the firm began by identifying unifying elements of campus buildings as concrete, metal and glass along with maroon colors.

Koel said the architects worked to create a really nice appearance that a major donation building requires while making it blend in with the other buildings on campus such as the nearby Arts and Technology building. His exterior design uses concrete columns, metal and a lot of glass for a modernistic look for the 30,000 square-foot, one-level building.

The project is largely funded by a $4 million gift the largest in the colleges history from the Broussard family. The family made the gift as a memorial to the late Rebecca Broussard, who was formerly a nurse and deeply committed to education.

They gave the donation with the proviso that the community give an additional $1 million for the center that will house allied health programs as well as a student health clinic. Karas said the match fund has now reached $610,000.

The college chose an area on the south end of the original campus buildings. Karas said earlier that it may displace some parking.

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Architects working on FVCC health center design

by Charli Engelhorn staff writer Moab Times Independent

Students at Helen M. Knight Elementary School participate in a lesson in the schools library. The architectural firm that designed the school recently received an honorable mention award from Learning by Design magazine for outstanding educational facility design. Photo by Scott Zimmerman

The accolades continue to come in for the Grand County School Districts Helen M. Knight Elementary school building and MHTN Architects, the Salt Lake City-based company that designed the facility. MHTN Architects recently received an honorable mention award from Learning by Design magazine for outstanding educational facility design for HMK .

The firm received one of five honorable mentions out of 30 K-12 facility designs submitted to the magazine, with three other facilities taking the grand prizes, according the a news release issued this week by MHTN.

This award is a great honor for our firm and Grand County School District and its patrons, said Peggy McDonough, president of MHTN Architects. The design of Helen M. Knight was created through collaboration with the district, its teachers and students, which resulted in an extraordinary learning environment connected to the culture of Moab.

The judges said the school resembles a contemporary cliff dwelling and has a nice visual connection to the environment. They noted that the connection goes beyond aesthetics and serves as a landscape for learning, with aspects such as an interior rock garden that allows students to study local plant life.

With just the right moves, what could easily be a simple double-loaded corridor creates little found space that makes all the difference, judges said, according to the news release.

MHTN was also recognized for their use of sustainable local materials.

MHTN and the district were previously recognized for the facility and community design process in August 2011 by the Council of Educational Facility Planners International. HMK was one of four schools in the country named as finalists for the prestigious James D. MacConnell Award, given for the level of community engagement and design standards for the construction of a learning facility. Although HMK and MHTN did not win the award, the architects and district officials did attend the awards ceremony in Nashville, Tenn., where their accomplishments were acknowledged.

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HMK architects receive honors for facility design by national magazine

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

As the Florida AIA (American Industry of Architects) prepares to celebrate its 100th anniversary later this year, the Florida Natural Gas Association has kick-started the festivities early launching their first annual Creative Energy Award.

Aiming to reward and recognize the creative use of natural gas energy and/or appliances in existing Architecture, the award will go to the Florida Architect who illustrates the most creative overall building design enhanced by the most relevant use of natural gas along withmerits of style, function and ingenuity.

In addition to receiving a $500 American Express gift card, the winner will be recognized with an engraved plaque at the AIA 2012 Convention and a feature advertorial in the 2012 Winter Edition of Florida/Caribbean ARCHITECT magazine.

With entries being accepted now through July 12th, interested Architects can enter at the FNGA web site by completing a simple form and submitting a few photos that convey their creative use of natural gas. The winner will also be recognized at the AIA 2012 Annual Convention in July, but he or she does not need to be present at the Convention in order to win.

The (FNGA) is non-profit organization that promotes and encourages the growth of the natural gas industry in the state of Florida. It also seeks to protect the interests of the industry, its members and consumers. Our members include distribution companies, transmission, gas supply marketers and affiliate members. With a membership of more than 100 companies, FNGA represents every segment of the natural gas industry.

For more information, please contact Jenna Bernardo, FNGA staff member, phone. (321) 779-1010, jenna@mtninc.com.

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The FNGA Fuels Some Friendly Competition Among Architects With Their First Ever ‘Creative Energy Award’