Attorney Who Won Huge Lawsuit Against Chevron On Behalf Of Amazonian Indigenous People Now Facing Chevron Retaliation

Steve Donziger is a name you should know.

 "Donziger won a historic $9.5 billion pollution judgment against Chevron on behalf of Indigenous peoples in Ecuador."

Chevron refused to abide by the Ecuadorian ruling and has been retaliating against the attorney who won the case.  If you don't know about this already, I recommend this article. 

Here is the gist:

Garbus, Frisch and a team of trial lawyers representing Donziger have argued the contempt case is tainted with misconduct, as follows: 

• Kaplan charged Donziger with contempt after the lawyer filed an appeal challenging an unprecedented order by the judge that he turn over his computer and cell phone to Chevron -- a brazen intrusion into the normally sacrosanct attorney-client privilege. It is considered highly unusual for a judge to charge a lawyer with criminal contempt over a constitutional issue that is pending appeal. 
• Even more odd is that Kaplan’s charges that resulted in Donziger’s detention originally were rejected by the New York federal prosecutor. In an apparently unprecedented maneuver, Kaplan then appointed the Seward firm to “prosecute” in the name of the government without disclosing the law firm had Chevron and several Chevron-related entities as clients -- posing an egregious conflict of interest and violating Department of Justice policy that requires prosecutors to maintain strict neutrality. 
• The Seward firm also failed to disclose on repeated occasions to Donziger in open court that Chevron was a client. The Seward firm is so close to Chevron that it is even asserting privilege for the company today over critical documents Donziger needs to defend himself in the contempt case. 
• In February, during argument before a federal appellate court over Donziger’s detention, Seward partner Glavin never disclosed that her firm had financial ties to Chevron. In 2008, Glavin was found by an independent special prosecutor to have committed misconduct when she helped hide critical evidence from the defense in the high-profile case against then Alaska Senator Ted Stevens. The case eventually was dismissed as a result. (See here.) 
• Preska has not denied that she and Kaplan communicate regularly about the case and that Kaplan has refused to disqualify himself, a customary practice by judges who file contempt charges to ensure impartiality. As a result, for all practical purposes, Donziger has a “two-headed judge” presiding over his case, said Garbus.  

“Kaplan seems to be trying to pre-ordain the outcome by appointing his best friend and ideological ally to preside without a jury,” said Garbus. “It is clear Steven cannot get a fair trial. His detention is a reflection of what appears to be an egregious lack of fairness. The charges seem to be about retaliation from a corporate polluter and its judicial allies, not about justice or law.”