Month: February 2012

  • Thoughts On The Third Interim Award In the Chevron/Ecuador Case

    As noted yesterday, the BIT arbitral tribunal has issued its third interim award. The basic decision is as follows: The tribunal has jurisdiction over Texaco Petroleum Co.’s claims, and the claims are admissible The tribunal has jurisdiction over Chevron’s “indirect investment” claims, that is, the claims Chevron brings as TexPet’s parent company, and those claims……

  • Case of the Day: SEI Societa Esplosivi Industriali v. L-3 Fuzing and Ordinance Systems

    The case of the day is SEI Societa Esplosivi Industriali SpA v. L-3 Fuzing and Ordinance Systems, Inc. (D. Del. 2012). L-3 and SEI were defense contractors involved in a contract for fuzes for “aircraft-delivered attack munitions.” L-3 was to deliver electric components to SEI, but L-3’s electronics “presented a safety issue”: they allowed the……

  • ACLU Files Amicus Brief in the Belfast Project Case

    The ACLU has filed its amicus brief in the Belfast Project appeal. Because of the posture of the case—Moloney and McIntyre have appealed from the denial of their motion for leave to intervene—the ACLU brief focuses on the intervention issue. A few points: The brief does not address the question whether the motion for leave……

  • Breaking: The BIT Tribunal Finds It Has Jurisdiction Over Chevron’s Claims Against Ecuador

    Chevron won another victory in its arbitration against Ecuador under the US/Ecuador bilateral investment treaty yesterday. In a lengthy decision, the tribunal, comprised of one arbitrator appointed by Chevron, one arbitrator appointed by Ecuador, and a president appointed by the Secretary-General of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, unanimously ruled that it had jurisdiction to consider……

  • Patton Boggs Opens A New Front In The Chevron/Ecuador Case

    For the most part, Chevron has been the master of ancillary litigation in its dispute with Ecuador, bringing many § 1782 judicial assistance proceedings, a RICO action, a declaratory judgment action, and of course a claim under the US/Ecuador bilateral investment treaty. The Lago Agrio plaintiffs have fought back in what I consider to be……