Article
Chevron Fails to Squelch $19 Billion Ecuador Verdict
You can sometimes tell the potential importance of an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court by who shows up to cheer from the sidelines. That’s certainly the case with Chevron v. Naranjo. The case concerns an obscure-sounding question of civil procedure yet drew friend-of-the-court…briefs from two of the largest pro-business trade groups in Washington. Despite backing from the National Association of Manufacturers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Chevron failed to convince the Supreme Court to intervene in a pending pollution lawsuit in which a provincial court in Ecuador in 2011 imposed a landmark verdict against the oil company…Without commenting on the merits of the case, the U.S. Supreme Court today let stand a…ruling that a New York trial judge exceeded his authority when he blocked a group of Ecuadorean farmers and Indians from seeking to collect the $19 billion award anywhere in the world.