Nigerian Times

Chevron is trying to wriggle out of paying for damages for decades of oil pollution in Ecuador. Photo Credit: The Minority Report Statement on Chevron's appeal today of the $18 billion judgment in Ecuador: Karen Hinton, U.S. spokesperson for the Ecuadorians, said: "For almost two decades, Chevron has stood in the way of a comprehensive cleanup of billions of gallons of crude oil and toxic waste water it deliberately dumped into the pristine rainforest. Thousands of people have died or have suffered from illnesses as the oil giant and its legions of lawyers fought to distract attention from the overwhelming evidence against the company. Chevron has always believed that Ecuador's many laws prohibiting environmental contamination should not apply to the company's misconduct. "In its latest notice of appeal, Chevron again seeks special treatment not afforded any other litigant under Ecuadorian law. Chevron's request that a bond requirement be waived would force ...

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Judge Lewis A. Kaplan Judge Lewis A. Kaplan continues to slide in Chevron's farcical "declaratory judgment" trial currently scheduled for November 14, 2011. We have provided the copies of two important motions that were filed in the SDNY before Judge Lewis A. Kaplan. The motions demonstrate how Judge Kaplan is failing to provide a fair trial which comports with basic notions of due process or fairness. The first motion, filed by the Ecuadorian plaintiffs who recently won an $18.2 billion judgment against Chevron for systematically poisoning Ecuador's Amazon, systematically demonstrates how Judge Kaplan's expedited schedule for the trial is not only "unfair to the Ecuadorian plaintiffs but would also not be consistent with procedures compatible with due process." The motion asks Judge Kaplan to continue the trial so that the Ecuadorian plaintiffs will have a reasonable amount of time to prepare a proper defense to Chevron's baseless allegat...

International Law Scholars Say Attempt by U.S. Judge to Block $18 Billion Court Judgment Against Chevron “Unlawful” and “Futile” Scholars Ask Appellate Court to Dissolve Order of Judge Lewis A. Kaplan New York, New York (June 13, 2011) – A group of 16 international law scholars have asked a federal appeals court in New York to overturn what they say is a U.S. trial court’s “futile” and unlawful injunction that purports to prohibit foreign citizens from Ecuador from collecting an $18 billion judgment against Chevron in courts around the world. The scholars described the injunction, issued by Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, as a “futile act” that “is much more likely to antagonize the courts of other states” than be treated as persuasive authority, as Kaplan has claimed. They also described the injunction as “breathtaking in its attempts to arrogate a world-wide and exclusive jurisdiction in this case” to a U.S. court without any legal authority to back it up. The scholars filed an amicus brie...

FOR RELEASE: Immediately May 25, 2011 DiNAPOLI TO CHEVRON: RESOLVE AMAZON LAWSUIT Standoff on Poor Ecological Record Bad for Business New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli and a coalition of investors today released a letter to oil giant Chevron urging the company to settle its 20-year legal battle with indigenous populations in the Amazon rainforest. The long-running court case alleges that Texaco, which merged with Chevron 10 years ago, destroyed huge tracts of the rainforest by dumping billions of gallons of oil waste products over several decades. Citing the “grave reputational damage” Chevron has suffered due to the lawsuit, DiNapoli and other investors called on the company to promptly negotiate a reasonable settlement to prevent further shareholder damage. “It’s time for Chevron to face reality,” said DiNapoli, trustee of the $140.6 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund (Fund), which owns 7.5 million Chevron shares worth an estimated $7...

~ By Marco Simon, Legal Director, Earth Rights International Since February, Chevron has been facing what is probably the largest environmental judgment in history-- an $8 billion award from an Ecuadorian court for contaminating the Ecuadorian Amazon. (That judgment is now available in English, below, courtesy of Chevron.) They've gone on the offensive against this judgment on two fronts. But they need to win not just these cases, but every other one that the plaintiffs might file. The plaintiffs' strategy has become known through the release of the so-called "Invictus" memo. That memo, drafted by law firm Patton Boggs for the Ecuadorian plaintiffs, outlines a global enforcement strategy. The Ecuadorians can go after Chevron in the US, but they can also try to enforce the judgment in Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, and dozens of other countries where Chevron operates or has assets. Not surprisingly, Chevron is working hard to prevent that. Chevron's first a...

Chevron Scrubs Lawsuit to Block Ecuador Award ~ By Adam Klasfeld MANHATTAN (CN) April 22 - With little fanfare, Chevron dropped a charge from their racketeering lawsuit against an attorney who helped engineer an environmental case that resulted in an $18 billion judgment against the company in Ecuador. As the parties are gearing up for a November trial in Manhattan to block the award, Chevron filed a proposed amended complaint on Thursday that removes attorney Steven Donziger as a party to one of the counts. Donziger, however, is not too happy about the change, as it could prevent him from participating in a trial to determine whether the judgment he secured is enforceable. Chevron spokesman Kent Robertson told Courthouse News that it made the change because Donziger does not "have a dog in that fight." He added that the Ecuadoreans can seek any lawyer they want to defend the judgment. After Chevron filed the amended complaint, a spokeswoman for Donziger...