Comments on: Lago Agrio: Ontario Court of Appeal Vacates Order on Costs

By: Lago Agrio Court: STJ Rejects Ecuadoran Judgment | Letters Blogatory | Letters Blogatory

Fri, 01 Dec 2017 17:49:48 +0000

[…] month. The proceedings in Canada were rejected by the first instance court in January 2017 but are still on appeal. The LAPs, perhaps sensing a defeat, abandoned their efforts in Brazil in September 2017, though […]

By: Ted Folkman

Ted Folkman — Fri, 03 Nov 2017 22:19:05 +0000

Peter, thanks for the comment. I agree that this is a positive sign for the LAPs, though it’s a sign of how badly things have been going for them that a decision that their case is not frivolous seems like a ray of sunshine.

Like any other investment, third-party funding has risks and rewards. There may be some investors who can bear the risk in return for a speculative big win. I don’t know whether there’s any funding here, but I suspect there is, otherwise the LAPs would’ve said there was none. But that’s just speculation.

By: Peter Lynn

Peter Lynn — Fri, 03 Nov 2017 20:01:33 +0000

Having just read the Canadian decision, it appears to me that there are justices within the Canadian legal system who see some merit in the LAPs case. This is the most positive document I have seen in some time. They acknowledge that Texaco have been found to contribute towards the ‘environmental devastation’ that has wrecked peoples lives, and point out that these findings have yet to be undermined in their courts. They also do not dismiss veil piercing out of hand, but state that law evolves through novel arguments, such as those presented. Finally they recognise that Chevron has consistently ’employed all available means to resist enforcement’, and this appears to be an important factor in leading them to view the order as a tactic to end litigation.

However, whilst encouraging, the possibility of successful enforcement still looks remote at this stage. For this reason, third party funding must be difficult to attract – who would put up a bond of almost £1million when it is almost certainly going to be lost?