As readers of this column know, I have devoted several entries to the massive litigation by Ecuadorean nationals against Chevron Corporation for damages allegedly inflicted on them by Texaco (purchased by Chevron) following Texaco’s joint oil extraction venture with the government of Ecuador. [If you’re a new reader, here’s a link to a posting on the matter that contains other links to the rest of the story. That will put you up to speed.] The suit was ill-founded from the get-go: Ecuador, not Texaco, was the culprit, and some of the damages were exaggerated or even invented. Indeed, as United States District Court Judge Lewis A. Kaplan stated in exhaustive findings of fact, the final Ecuadorean judgment against Chevron was obtained through corruption. Read more>>
