Chevron claimed another high-profile scalp today as the Washington law firm Patton Boggs agreed to pay $15 million and granted Chevron extraordinary rights to question two of its partners in a settlement of litigation over a $9.5 billion environmental judgment against the oil giant in Ecuador. Read more >>
Chevron and Patton Boggs have settled disputes linked to long-running litigation over toxic drilling waste pits in Ecuador, with Patton Boggs agreeing to pay Chevron $15 million, issue a statement of regret, and withdraw from the Ecuador case. Chevron agreed to release all claims against Patton Boggs and its partners. Read more >>
Chevron struck another blow in its campaign to undermine a multibillion-dollar pollution judgment it faces in Ecuador. Under tremendous pressure from the oil company, Patton Boggs, the powerful Washington law firm that once vowed to assure the enforcement of the Ecuadorian judgment, instead withdrew today from the case. Read more >>
The new Communications Law in Ecuador “placed excessive controls on content, and imposed onerous obligations on journalists and media outlets,” the report said. Read more >>
Ecuadorian press freedom NGO Fundamedios sent a letter to Twitter criticizing the company for having complied to remove content depicting or referring to President Rafael Correa that the organization described as public information. Twitter removed the content from its service after receiving several complaints in the last few months from Spanish company Ares Rights, which the Ecuadorian government is currently employing to track alleged copyright infringements online.
For Patton Boggs, things have gone from bad to worse. The legendary Washington law and lobbying firm compounded its economic troubles by getting entangled in litigation against the sort of company it normally represents. And now that litigation has taken a turn for the ominous where Patton Boggs is concerned.
On March 4, 2014, after many years of litigation, Chevron obtained a highly favorable ruling using RICO to fight fraudulent lawsuits. Chevron’s RICO victory, along with other similar cases, can provide a model for other companies to follow in using RICO to fight fraudulent lawsuits. Read more >>
A federal judge threw out a case brought against Chevron by a Washington law firm attempting to get the company to pay $18 billion for allegedly polluting an Ecuadorian oil field, on Wednesday. Read more >>
Last month the judge gave Chevron the green light to pursue counterclaims—including fraud—against Patton Boggs in a separate but related matter. Chevron has accused Patton Boggs of playing a “pivotal role” in concealing misdeeds behind the Ecuador verdict—allegations that the firm has called “baseless.” Read more >>
A New York federal judge on Monday rejected Patton Boggs LLP’s claim to a $21.8 million bond Chevron Corp. posted for an injunction blocking an Ecuadorian court’s $9.5 billion pollution judgment, saying the bond became unavailable when it was released. Read more >>
Almost surely, Rafael Correa will seek reelection to the presidency of Ecuador. He’s under the delusion that he is indispensable. That’s one of the symptoms of narcissism. The longer he remains at Carondelet Palace, the more his image will suffer. It’s inevitable. Another term is a bad idea. Read more >>
But in Friday’s order, Kaplan said Donziger’s arguments for a stay were largely “without merit.” Donziger’s “claims of irreparable injury rest on a pastiche of unsupported assertions, contradictions of undisputed evidence and fertile imagination,” Kaplan’s opinion said. Read more >>