It’s a standard corporate talking point that plaintiffs lawyers are in the extortion business. But could that argument ever stand up in a court of law?
The answer is yes according to the lawyers defending Chevron in the epic Ecuadorian trial where the company stands accused of defiling the Amazon basin with oil pollution. The Chevron lawyers believe they have uncovered corruption so deep that the case, filed by indigenous residents of the region, qualifies as a criminal racketeering enterprise under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
