"U.S. Court Assists with Dutch Human Rights Lawsuit Against Shell", 12 Jan 2017

When Esther Kiobel...could not find justice by suing Shell in U.S courts, she decided to sue the Dutch oil giant in the Netherlands...Ms. Kiobel and her Dutch lawyers utilize...the Foreign Legal Assistance (FLA) Statute...to gain access to important documents from the original U.S. case...These documents were in the possession of...the law firm that defended Shell in the U.S. litigation...In 2013...the United States Supreme Court dismissed Ms. Kiobel’s case against Shell on jurisdictional grounds...Ms. Kiobel turned to the courts of Shell’s home country, the Netherlands...Dutch procedural law requires plaintiffs in civil actions to present...their evidence at the opening of their case...While all of this evidence had been turned over to Ms. Kiobel in the course of the U.S. litigation, much of it was required to be destroyed at the end of that case...Ms. Kiobel returned to the same district court where she had filed her case against Shell 14 years earlier...to request access to evidence that may prove critical to finally bringing Shell to justice...Judge...granted her FLA application...