Environmental Law

DOJ Quietly Overhauls BP Oil Spill Probe

As the anniversary of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico approaches, Justice Department officials have only recently created a special task force to oversee a probe examining who may be criminally responsible. NPR reports the DOJ “quietly overhauled their approach” earlier this month and put a veteran…

Mar 25, 2011 8:00 PM CDT

Lawmaker Wants Judge on Endangered Species List; Animal Protection Group Wants Retraction

Critics see a veiled threat in a Montana congressman’s assertions that a federal judge should be put on the endangered species list for his ruling on protections for wolves. In a speech last week to Montana’s legislature, U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg didn’t identify the judge, but he was referring to…

Feb 18, 2011 3:09 PM CST

Chevron Fined $8.6B By Ecuador Court in Environmental Case

Chevron Corp. says that there has been an adverse ruling against the oil company today in an environmental case in Ecuador, and a lawyer there who represents the plaintiffs tells Reuters that the amount was $8 billion. That is only a fraction of the $113 billion the plaintiffs reportedly had…

Feb 14, 2011 7:52 PM CST

Last Week You Saw Larry Tribe’s Name on US Supreme Court Brief, This Week You Don’t

Last week, a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in an environmental case listed Laurence Tribe as counsel of record. This week, a substitute brief filed in the same case omitted the renowned Harvard Law School professor’s name but is substantively the same. The unusual change was made at…

Feb 12, 2011 1:19 AM CST

US Judge Grants TRO to Block Enforcement of Potential Ecuador Verdict Against Chevron

In the latest twist in a hard-fought international environmental case that reportedly could win a megabillions verdict for the plaintiffs, a federal judge in New York has granted a temporary restraining order banning enforcement of any judgment that might be awarded in the future by a court in Ecuador. The…

Feb 9, 2011 8:20 PM CST

Patton Firm Seeks to Sue Chevron, Gibson Dunn, Claims Tortious Interference with Client Relationship

Last week, Chevron Corp. filed a federal civil racketeering lawsuit in New York against the plaintiffs in a hard-fought multi-billion-dollar Ecuador environmental case, alleging that they conspired to manufacture and withhold evidence. Among the defendants is one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs, Steven Donziger. This week, another plaintiffs law…

Feb 8, 2011 4:34 PM CST

Chevron Shifts Gears, Files Civil RICO Suit Against Plaintiffs

Corrected: Upping the ante in a hard-fought legal battle over megabillions in environmental damage allegedly caused to a South American rain forest by a predecessor of Chevron Corp., the oil company has filed a civil racketeering lawsuit against the plaintiffs. The suit accuses the plaintiffs, their lawyers and other members…

Feb 3, 2011 5:13 PM CST

Lawyer in Megabucks Chevron Enviro Case Must Turn Over Hard Drive Mirror Images, Judge Rules

After persuading a federal judge that a plaintiff’s lawyer waived privilege by operating as a “political operative” in conjunction with the making of a documentary film, a corporate defendant in a megabucks South American environmental case has scored a follow-up victory. Initially, based on the “political operative” finding, a federal…

Jan 27, 2011 9:18 PM CST

Doc Film That Cut A/C Privilege in $113B Enviro Case Also Pierced Filmmaker’s Shield, 2nd Cir. Says

Last year, a decision to cooperate with a filmmaker making a documentary about a $113 billion Ecuadorean environmental case cost plaintiffs’ counsel their attorney-client privilege. Now in the latest adverse ruling to the plaintiffs as a result of the Crude documentary, a federal appeals court has held that the film…

Jan 14, 2011 5:39 PM CST

New Calif. Law Lets Individuals Rent Cars to Strangers, Via ‘Green’ Nonprofit

Tempting though it might be to pick up a few bucks by letting a friend or acquaintance rent your car in tough economic times, doing so runs the risk of invalidating your personal auto insurance policy and being held responsible for an accident. But a new California law that took…

Jan 12, 2011 5:06 PM CST

Neighboring Fla. Jurists Move Chambers After Death of Colleague, Citing Mold Concern

Concerning that a 52-year-old Florida jurist’s death from lung cancer last month may have been linked to courthouse mold, three of Judge Cheryl Aleman’s colleagues on the ninth floor have moved their chambers out of the Broward County Courthouse and are seeking environmental testing. “There were issues with a serious…

Jan 11, 2011 7:07 PM CST

Panel Blames Management, ‘Systemic Failures’ in Oil Industry and Government for Gulf Spill

A combination of poor decision-making by those in charge of the Deepwater Horizon rig and “systemic failures” by the oil industry and government regulators are responsible for the lethal well blowout and disastrous spill that began spewing from below the Gulf of Mexico in April, a presidential panel has determined.…

Jan 6, 2011 12:08 AM CST

Confusing, Complex Superfund Law Still Helping Environmental Lawyers Clean Up

Decades after their initial enactment, confusing and complex environmental statutes such as the Superfund law are still helping lawyers clean up. Superfund litigation was aided by a $600 million allocation under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act last year. And the Superfund law (officially, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and…

Jan 3, 2011 11:11 PM CST

Despite Hi-Tech Safety Equipment, Lack of Training Aided Oil Rig Disaster, NY Times Reports

After the Deepwater Horizon blew up in an inferno of flames in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, many assumed the fire on the drilling rig was an inevitable result of the oil spilling out of the undersea well that its crew had mistakenly failed to seal. But in…

Dec 28, 2010 1:04 PM CST

Doc Film Helped Chevron Subpoena Plaintiffs’ US Legal Files in $113B Ecuador Enviro Case

A documentary film encouraged by the lead plaintiff’s lawyer in a $113 billion case concerning alleged damage to a South American rain forest apparently didn’t achieve the result attorney Steve Donziger anticipated. Lawyers for Chevron Corp. used the documentary, Crude, to persuade a federal judge in New York both to…

Dec 23, 2010 9:09 PM CST