Chevron's Views
And Opinions On
The Ecuador Lawsuit.
Chevron's Views
And Opinions On
The Ecuador Lawsuit.
“If you repeat a lie a thousand times it becomes the truth.” That is the motto that Steven Donziger, the U.S. lawyer who orchestrated a fraud and extortion scheme to target Chevron through sham litigation in Ecuador, confided to a member of his Ecuadorian legal team. Since then, one of this country’s most respected trial court judges has found that Donziger violated federal racketeering laws by committing multiple acts of mail and wire fraud, attempted extortion, bribery of foreign officials, money laundering, witness tampering and obstruction of justice.
“If you repeat a lie a thousand times it becomes the truth.” That’s the motto Steven Donziger, the U.S. lawyer …
Gibson Dunn’s energy group was at the center of key developments in 2014, including Chevron Corp.’s win in a suit over its environmental record in Ecuador and the Williams Cos. Inc.’s $50 billion merger with its pipeline unit, landing a spot among Law360’s Energy Groups of the Year. Read more>>
Yet look at what happened next. Chevron studied the ruling closely and concluded that parts of it had been written, more or less, by the plaintiffs. It filed a case in Manhattan under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisation Act, a law passed in 1970 to tackle organised crime, on the basis that the Amazon Defence Front’s case amounted to extortion. The US District Court found for Chevron in July 2012 after concluding that some of the evidence brought against it in the original case was “tainted by fraud”. Among those testifying to that effect was one of the judges who had heard the original case in Ecuador. Read more>>
The company is attempting to scrutinize Ecuador’s role in what increasingly looks like a corporate shakedown. But Chevron isn’t the only potential beneficiary of what might come to light. Ecuadoreans who live powerlessly under a repressive, secretive regime that bills itself as democratic will also be better informed. Read more>>
Chevron has filed an appeal brief with U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in support of its racketeering …
The Dutch high court on Friday upheld an appellate court judgment rejecting Ecuador’s attempt to escape a $106 million arbitration award against it in its fight with Chevron Corp., finding the country’s investment treaty with the U.S. prevents it from disputing the judgment. Read more>>
Paul Barrett’s excellent new book, “Law of the Jungle,” has been attacked in Outside magazine as too one-sided. I see it as not quite one-sided enough.
A New York state judge has ruled that Ecuador’s courts are the proper venue for a suit against class action attorney Steven Donziger brought by a group of indigenous Ecuadorians seeking a share of the $18.2 billion pollution-related judgment Donziger helped secure against Chevron Corp., according to an order posted Friday. Read more>>
The company isn’t paying, citing a 1998 settlement with Ecuador’s previous government, a $40 million clean-up by Texaco, plus joint venture responsibilities of the state-run oil company, Petroecuador. Correa continues to fight, and just last week hired former Congressman Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.) to help seize Chevron assets overseas. This is all despite a New York court citing rampant corruption in Ecuador’s legal proceedings, and shady public relations practices which reportedly involved hiring “extras” for public protests. Read more >>
A new digital publication called the Richmond Standard gives San Francisco Bay Area residents local news—and Chevron views.
By Stephen W. Green, Chevron Re: May 28 commentary, “Chevron board should face critics, not hide in Midland.” Ecuadorian Ambassador …
