Patton Boggs, LLP v. Chevron Corporation

Jun 22: In the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, Case No. 11-7082 & 11-7089. Appeals from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The Appeals Court explains this case is but a small part of a long-running and now sprawling international litigation battle in which various indigenous Ecuadorian groups claim that Chevron Corporation is liable for environmental harm caused in the Amazon over three decades. Patton Boggs LLP represents the plaintiffs and would like to continue to do so. The Appeals Court said, "The district court denied Patton Boggs both a declaratory judgment that it could not be disqualified from that representation and leave to amend its complaint with claims that Chevron and its counsel, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, tortiously interfered with the firm's contract with its clients. . . we affirm the district court."

 

    The Appeals Court said further, "The complaint does not allege the requisite 'plausible scenario' that could show Patton Boggs is entitled to relief. Jones, 634 F.3d at 595. We agree with the district court that the allegation is nothing but 'an unadorned, the-defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation.' Chevron II, 825 F. Supp. 2d at 42 (quoting Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678). . ."

 

    Access the complete opinion (click here). [#Remed, #Toxics, #CADC]

 

GET THE REST OF TODAY'S NEWS (click here)
32 Years of Environmental Reporting for serious Environmental Professionals