So the trial of the century may not happen after all. This morning, lawyers representing over 116,000 plaintiffs had been due in court in New Orleans to begin the trial against BP and other defendants resulting from the Deepwater Horizon. The trial could have lasted two years. Documents in the case run to more than … Read More
Litigation
Shell Guilty Again?
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 … Read More
“The news that Shell accepts liability will be greeted with joy”
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 … Read More
“Cowboy” Cairn Gags Greenpeace
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 … Read More
Always read the small print
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 … Read More
Chevron Guilty
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 … Read More
The “world’s worst oil-related disaster”
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 … Read More
Why Bob Has to be Wary of the “Bunker”
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 … Read More
Court rules companies can’t be sued under Alien Tort
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 … Read More
Lawyers not yet born look set to work on this one too
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 … Read More