Chevron filed yesterday its opposition to Steven Donziger and the Lago Agrio Plaintiffs’ (LAPs’) motion to intervene in Chevron’s settlement agreement with Patton Boggs. Chevron’s motion, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, is available here.
In the May 7 settlement agreement, Patton Poggs withdrew from the fraudulent Ecuador litigation, issued a statement of regret, and agreed to make payment of $15 million to Chevron. In its opposition brief, Chevron argues that the motion to intervene filed by Donziger is nothing more than a public relations ploy, as they have no personal interest in the settlement and do not have grounds to intervene, among other reasons.
“There is more than a little irony in the prospect of Steven Donziger seeking to ‘intervene’ to teach anyone about the ethical obligations of lawyers, after having devoted his career to breaching those duties and capturing the wreckage on film,” according to Chevron’s motion.
As an alternative to denying their motion to intervene, Chevron requests that the Court require Donziger, the LAPs and Pablo Fajardo to produce documents and submit to a deposition before deciding the motion.
