BREAKING: Chevron’s law firm hit with huge fine for lying to courts

Poetic justice indeed. Two top partners at Chevron law firm Gibson Dunn – the same firm that had me illegally detained for almost three years – were hit with a massive fine for lying to courts to help a scandal-ridden corporate client obstruct a case that could lead to a massive liability. One of the two Gibson Dunn lawyers fined was deeply involved in Chevron’s “demonize Donziger” campaign. He and others have spent 12 years persecuting me for my work in holding Chevron accountable for its “Chernobyl” disaster in Ecuador. According to Law.com, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria ruled: "This case is an example of a wealthy client and its high-powered law firm using delay, misdirection, and frivolous arguments to make litigation unfairly difficult and expensive for their opponents.” Judge Chhabria went on to state that the Chevron law firm was found to use “sustained, concerted, bad-faith efforts to throw obstacle after obstacle in front of the plaintiffs to push the plaintiffs into settling the case for less than they would have gotten otherwise.” Sound familiar? These are the exact same tactics used against me after our legal team helped Indigenous peoples in the Amazon win a historic $9.5 billion pollution judgment against Chevron. Chevron did not want to pay what they owed to remediate their destruction of Indigenous ancestral lands. Instead, the company spent more than a decade retaliating against me – and I am still not free.     When my legal struggles began, Chevron hired Gibson Dunn to retaliate against me as a way of distracting attention from the real issue: that the company had deliberately dumped billions of gallons of cancer-causing oil waste into the Amazon, potentially wiping out generations to cancer and other oil-related diseases. Chevron used everything in its power to manipulate the law – including orchestrating my private corporate prosecution and detention at the hands of the same law firm. We have known since my sentencing in 2021 that Chevron weaponized the legal system against me. Clearly, this is not the first time Gibson Dunn has abused the courts – and unless we fight back, it won’t be the last. We cannot let either Chevron or Gibson Dunn get away with this. I am continuing the fight for the full restoration of my rights – I still do not have a passport or law license – to help me and others deliver justice to the affected peoples of Ecuador. But I cannot do it alone. Please rush $15, $25, $50, $100, $250, $500, $1000, or whatever you can afford to help us shine a light on Chevron’s corruption and misuse of the legal system. These funds will be used to help our team grow its extraordinary advocacy campaign that has galvanized millions of people around the world. The ultimate objective is to hold Chevron fully accountable by forcing the company to move massive resources into the hands of Indigenous peoples to help restore the rainforest for the benefit of all. Finishing the job in this way will send shock waves through the entire fossil fuel industry. We have an unprecedented opportunity. Please help us make history by generating the resources needed to move forward quickly and effectively to “finish the job” against Chevron. Onward, Steven Donziger Steven Donziger is a U.S. human rights attorney who helped communities in Ecuador’s Amazon win a historic multibillion-dollar pollution judgment against Chevron for the dumping of billions of gallons of cancer-causing oil waste onto Indigenous ancestral lands. Since the judgment issued in 2013, Chevron has used dozens of law firms and 2000 lawyers to carry out a demonization campaign targeting Steven to send a message of intimidation to all environmental advocates. Steven served 993 days of detention at home and in prison after being prosecuted directly by a Chevron law firm in the nation's first corporate prosecution; he still faces the threat of additional jail time after he appealed an order to turn over confidential information held by his Indigenous clients. Donate NOW to help support Steven as he and the Ecuadorian communities continue their fight for corporate accountability, environmental justice, Indigenous rights, and Free Speech. All funds are administered by the Friedman Rubin law firm in Seattle. Funds are used to pay legal fees and Steven’s basic household and work expenses given that Chevron has taken his law license. DONATE NOW

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