In a twist, a special referee in the disciplinary case against Steven Donziger said the suspended attorney should be allowed to practice law again, despite a federal judge’s opinion that Donziger had scammed Chevron in a corrupt Ecuadorian court.

John Horan of Fox Horan & Camerini, a referee tasked to determine an appropriate punishment for Donziger, said that disbarment would be “too extreme,” in a Monday report to legal disciplinary authorities.