By Kathy Finn, Andrew Longstreth and Tom Bergin NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - The estimated $7.8 billion deal struck by BP Plc with businesses and individuals suing over the massive 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill could speed up payments to thousands of claimants and offers lawyers a potential windfall in legal fees. London-based BP announced the deal on Friday with the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee, or PSC, which represents condominium owners, fishermen, hoteliers, restaurateurs and others who say their livelihoods were damaged by the April 20, 2010, explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and subsequent oil spill. The settlement, which delayed a giant trial that had been set to get under way in a New Orleans federal court on Monday is a step by BP toward resolving its liability in the case, which could stretch into the tens of billions of dollars. But the deal does nothing to settle charges brought by BP's biggest opponent in the trial: the U.S. government. Eleven people died and 4.9 million barrels of oil spewed from the mile-deep (1.6 km-deep) Macondo oil well in by far the worst offshore U.S. oil spill. In addition to the Justice Department, BP still faces lawsuits from five U.S. states whose coastlines were oiled, as well as its partners in the ill-fated Macondo well. Barbier, who will preside over the three-part trial that could stretch through 2012, set no definite date for the trial to resume. BP has already paid out about $6.1 billion to compensate about 220,000 plaintiffs from the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, or GCCF, a trust fund administered by Kenneth Feinberg. The latest settlement will be in addition to that. Lawyers for the PSC, Stephen Herman and James Roy, said the settlement would speed up compensation for thousands of victims, who would be divided into two categories: economic loss claims and medical claims. "This settlement will provide a full measure of compensation to hundreds of thousands - in a transparent and expeditious manner under rigorous judicial oversight," they said in a statement. It does the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people. In a statement, Feinberg said the settlement "avoids a lengthy complex trial and uncertain appeals." Alhough courts have limited legal fees to 6 percent so far, "they (lawyers) want an open-ended claim fund." Becnel predicted many potential claimants would opt out of the settlement. "I'm going to recommend to my clients, 'Let's opt out and go try our individual cases,'" he said. The settlement sets new criteria for calculating compensation, and transfers claims processing from Feinberg's fund to a new court-supervised fund based in New Orleans. During the transition, which could take several months, claimants could be offered an unspecified percentage from the GCCF, with the rest paid by the new fund, the PSC said in a statement. Those claiming medical benefits, including workers who helped clean up the spill, would be eligible for care for 21 years, the PSC said.