Southern District Judge Lewis Kaplan (See Profile) yesterday refused to dismiss the racketeering lawsuit brought by Chevron alleging that a multi-billion dollar environmental damages judgment secured against the oil giant in Ecuador was secured by a fraud committed by Ecuadoran plaintiffs, New York attorney Steven Donziger and others.
But Kaplan somewhat trimmed the case of Chevron v Donziger, 11 Civ. 0691, by dismissing some state law claims, including one that he ruled was “premature”: Chevron’s assertion that Donziger and the co-called Lago Agrio plaintiffs would be unjustly enriched as a result of the judgment.
