Lead Attorney for Infamous Ecuadorian Chevron Lawsuit Held in Contempt

The same U.S. District Judge who ruled that a $9.5 billion judgment against Chevron was “procured by fraud” held the case’s lead attorney in contempt yesterday for violating a 2014 order not to profit off the case.

Judge Lewis Kaplan said evidence showed Steven Donziger had made at least $2.3 million by selling some of his contingency portions to investors, which violates a 2014 order banning him from profiting off the original award. The order stems from findings that he and his legal team bribed an Ecuadorian judge to rule against Chevron in 2011. Court systems in several other countries, including most recently the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Netherlands last summer, have similarly nullified the judgment.