Posted on 04/03/2014 4:27:06 PM PDT by jazusamo
Litigation: After thwarting a $9.5 billion judgment from an Ecuadorean court, Chevron is going after the entire edifice of environmentalist enablers who make such junk lawsuits possible. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch.
To the surprise of many, the oil giant is suing the tony, white-shoe law firm of Patton Boggs for alleged unethical involvement in an all-out legal attack by environmentalists over rainforest pollution in Ecuador.
Chevron accuses the oh-so-respected firm of lying, concealing inconvenient facts, running a public smear campaign and miscellaneous other flim-flammery, all for the sake of the dollar signs spinning in their eyes.
This poses a problem for Patton Boggs, because seldom have the facts in a case been so scurrilous.
Chevron had been accused of polluting the rainforest floor in Ecuador through its 2001 acquisition of Texaco, supposedly harming thousands of villagers as it callously took its profits. It was all-so-perfect a story to go with the leftist narrative about greedy oil companies exploiting innocent Third World victims. Only it wasn't true.
Fact is, Texaco cleaned up its share of the Ecuadorean oil-extraction operation near Lago Agrio, where the accusations were hatched, and then got two clean bills of health from the Ecuadorean government in 1995 and 1998, having fulfilled its responsibilities free and clear.
Enter Steven Donziger, an environmental zealot with a bent for Hollywood theatrics who drew in droves of big players by persuading them he could win monster verdicts with big payouts. One of these players was a hedge fund that "invests" in expected lawsuit awards, which brought Patton Boggs into the picture.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.investors.com ...
Pretty much a complete description of most Lawyers.
Buy this stock. Chevron. CVX
The EPA too.
I love the smell of toasted tree huggers in the morning. :)
What's black and tan and looks good on a lawyer?
A Doberman.
Yep, and that smell will be sweet when Patton Boggs are whimpering about how they were lied to.
I could see changing from Costco to Chevron gas. I like these guys taking the fight to the enemies.
When the World Wildlife Fund sued Vince McMahon's WWF, and made him change the name, (eventually to WWE) I thought that he should have set up a fake company and bought the charity so he could dissolve it.
For those who think that unregulated free markets are a good thing .... Settling disputes by lawsuit is libertarian heaven, but there is only one solution to this problem for an honest patriotic citizen who has regard for his fellow man - get a rope. If Patton Boggs goes bankrupt it will be slight justice. It is an LLP and so Chevron cannot go after the partners for their $9.5 Billion in damages trebble for malice - which I would give Chevron if I were on the jury.
When Texaco walked away from Ecuador they turned their properties over to the Ecuadorian government oil company who agreed to accept liability for any remaining work. Then Texaco put up, as I recall, another big pot of money for further cleanup.
Since then they have beaten every subsequent attempt to sue them in court.
So the whole thing was bogus from the beginning. If they wanted Texaco to be responsible for further cleanup then they needed to return her properties.
But could not a U.S. Attorney go after the law firm under RICO statues if it is proven in court they were conspiring to defraud and lied about facts in the case? If RICO could be used against them I think everything could be lost by the firm and its partners. Not sure, just a question.
Bump.
The sun will turn into a white dwarf before Holder goes after Patton Boggs
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