By now you must have read, seen or heard about the $18 billion verdict handed down against Chevron by an Ecuadorian Court. Since the verdict in Ecuador , Chevron has gone on the offensive , bringing their fight in front of a sympathetic Judge Lewis A. Kaplan in the Federal District Court in Manhattan. Judge Kaplan is hearing the racketeering suit filed against plaintiff's counsel and has preliminarily enjoined enforcement of the judgment against Chevron in the U.S. Motions are presently pending seeking Judge Kaplan's recusal.
Why a U.S. Court is getting involved in this fight is beyond me ? Playing world's policeman again, I guess. What makes Judge Kaplan's involvement even more glaring and more meddlesome is the fact that nine years ago Judge Rakoff of the same Court dismissed the underlying environmental plenary action against Chevron filed in New York on " forum non conveniens grounds ". That dismissal effectively forced plaintiffs to seek redress(which the did) in the Ecuadorian Courts. Now the case is back...Did someone say boomerang ?
Going to be fascinating to see how the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York perceives and views Judge Kaplan's involvement nine years after the same Court dismissed the underlying case.
As usual I will keep you posted.
This has been another segment of "Goldman Opinions"!
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