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Steven Donziger, environmental lawyer superstar, has recently suffered a reversal of fortune worthy of the ancient drama. The New York lawyer has brought a $19 billion verdict against Chevron – but Chevron doesn’t have such assets in Ecuador and according to Bloomberg Businessweek vowed not to pay a dime.
Furthermore, Chevron charged Donziger with a variety of illegal behavior such as organizing fraud with lawyers in Ecuador, and fabricating evidence.
The greatest change in fortune regards Donziger’s ammunition, his use of Stratus Consulting, a data and analysis company based in Boulder that has fueled documentaries such as a 2009 film and an episode of CBS’s 60 Minutes, all damning Chevron. But it’s all lies, they are willing to admit. They said they were “misled” by Donziger, and that the extensive research which was supposed to be neutral and independent was not. They claim that the court process in Ecuador was “tainted by Donziger and the Lago Agrio plaintiffs representatives’ behind-the-scenes activities.”
Indeed, they are willing now to “cooperate fully” with Chevron and “provide testimony about the Ecuador litigation.” The next schedule hearing is April 16, and it seems that the once imposing Donziger is now left without a leg to stand on. His financing is gone and his public-relations consultant has left the case. In other words, he doesn’t stand a chance.
