Chevron seeks $32 million in Ecuador case
Chevron Corporation on March 18 filed (PDF) for reimbursement of attorneys' fees against attorney Steven Donziger and others in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. Chevron prevailed earlier this month in its lawsuit against Donziger for fraud and racketeering and demands compensation for over $32 million the company allegedly spent in attorneys' fees associated with the trial. The racketeering trial was brought by Chevron in retaliation for a 2011 lawsuit between the same parties in which Donziger prevailed. That lawsuit, brought by Donziger and litigated in Ecuador, found Chevron liable for 8.6 billion for polluting large areas of the Ecuadorian rain forest. Chevron subsequently brought and prevailed on charges that the Ecuadorian lawsuit was a "multinational criminal enterprise" intended to defraud and extort "one of the best-known companies in the world."
From Jurist, March 21. Used with permission.
Another win for Chevron in Ecuador imbroglio
Chevron claimed what Forbes approvingly calls "another high-profile scalp" May 7 as the Washington law firm Patton Boggs agreed to pay $15 million to the company in a legal settlement concerning the Ecuador oil contamination case. Patton Boggs issued a statement saying it "regrets its involvement" in the case against Chevron, and will assign all its interests in the case to the oil company. In exchange, Chevron will drop its counter-claim against the firm. It also agreed to cease representing plaintiffs in the Ecuadoran case and to hand over documents relating to efforts by them to enforce the judgment. “We are pleased that Patton Boggs is ending its association with the fraudulent and extortionate Ecuador litigation scheme,” said Hewitt Pate, Chevron's general counsel. "Chevron encourages others to disassociate themselves from this fraud." More at Politico.