For the Ecuadorians who hold a $19 billion environmental judgment against Chevron Corporation over oil sludge in the Amazon, a mandamus petition to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit was the last best hope of avoiding an Oct. 15 trial on Chevron’s accusations of wholesale fraud. But on Thursday the Second Circuit rejected the petition just hours after oral arguments, clearing the way for trial.
The Ecuadorians and their lawyers are scrambling to enforce their judgment worldwide, even as they prepare to defend themselves against Chevron’s fraud and racketeering claims in New York. They argued Thursday that Southern District Judge Lewis Kaplan (See Profile) was biased toward Chevron and was ignoring the Second Circuit’s own directive from January 2012, when the appeals court ruled that Kaplan lacked the power to declare the $19 billion judgment unrecognizable.
