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Posts in Litigation

Shell Guilty Again?
Andy Rowell
Oct19
Just over two years after the Wiwa versus Shell case was settled in a New York Court room, the US Supreme Court has given approval for another ground-breaking legal case against Shell to be heard. The lawsuit will consider whether corporations can be sued in U.S. courts for allegedly aiding human-rights abuses overseas. Amazingly, the…
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“The news that Shell accepts liability will be greeted with joy”
Andy Rowell
Aug03
The history of Shell in Nigeria is one of contempt for the locals, of systematic and chronic pollution and of a vortex of violence in which thousands have been killed, or tortured. The country remains a grubby stain on Shell’s iconic logo. The company has never apologised for its role in the death of Ken…
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“Cowboy” Cairn Gags Greenpeace
Andy Rowell
Jul20
One of the many ways in which powerful polluters try to silence their critics is through legal intimidation. And Cairn Energy, which is involved in controversial drilling in the Arctic, is no exception. For months Cairn has been dogged by Greenpeace, which has been campaigning against its Artic operations off Greenland. On Monday about 60…
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Always read the small print
Andy Rowell
Jun21
Investors may have poured their cash into the rogue’s gallery that is the new venture by Tony Hayward and “Nat King Coal” Rothschild called Vallares. As I blogged yesterday, Vallares was over-subscribed raising just over $2 billion to buy assets in the oil and gas sector. Investors were said to be reassured by Hayward’s knowledge…
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Chevron Guilty
Andy Rowell
Feb15
In an historic victory, a small court in Lago Agrio, in Ecuador’s Amazon has ordered that Chevron pay some $8.6 billion in damages. The court ruled in favour of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon who have spent the last 18 years seeking damages for systematic and chronic oil pollution. Chevron inherited the suit when…
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The “world’s worst oil-related disaster”
Andy Rowell
Jan25
In many ways it has been a lengthy legal fight like no other. On the one side are tens of thousands of poor Ecuadorian Indians and on the other the raw might of American Big Oil, in the shape of Texaco and then Chevron. In the middle is a chronically polluted Amazon and the lega…
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Why Bob Has to be Wary of the “Bunker”
Andy Rowell
Sep27
When Bob Dudley takes over the reins at BP on Friday he will face a daunting task and a bulging in-tray. He will be aware that his new job is a personal poisoned chalice, having effectively destroyed the careers of three of his predecessors: Tony Hayward, John Browne and Bob Horton have all left in…
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Court rules companies can’t be sued under Alien Tort
Andy Rowell
Sep22
This is bad news, which could have serious ramifications for holding companies legally accountable in the US for their operations abroad. And it has virtually received no press attention at all. Last Friday the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a suit brought by the Ogoni, who alleged that Shell was complicit in human…
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Lawyers not yet born look set to work on this one too
Andy Rowell
Aug11
When the Exxon Valdez oil spill happened the chair of the Trustees panel said simply: “lawyers not yet born will work on this one”. His prediction essentially came true as the spill lawsuits grinded backwards and forwards through the courts as Exxon did everything in its power to delay and derail the legal process. As…
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Swords Sharpen for Hayward: Dividend the Key Issue
Andy Rowell
Jun03
Just a few weeks ago the online debate would have been unthinkable. But today, the Times newspaper, Britain’s bastion of the establishment and the powerhouse of the Murdoch media empire, is asking its readers whether the embattled boss of BP should fall on his sword and resign. The swords and knives are certainly being sharpened. …
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