I've been reading page proofs of my friend Paul Barrett's forthcoming book, "Law of the Jungle," about lawyer Steven Donziger's unsuccessful effort (so far) to enforce a $19 billion Ecuadorian judgment against Chevron for enviroinmental harms in the rain forest. In the U.S., Chevron hired Gibson Dunn's Randy Mastro (the same Mastro whose investigation exonerated Governor Christie; where does he find the time?) and to date, nearly all victories have been Mastro's.
The case is now headed to the 2nd Circuit (again). I pity the poor law clerk who is assigned to work on this massive record or draft whatever opinion eventually emerges. Judge Lewis Kaplan's district court opinion ran 485 pages with 1842 footnotes, but then Lew Kaplan is in reality a scholar masquerading as a trial judge.
Anyway, I mention the book because not only is the tale fascinating, and not only is Paul, a lawyer and a journalist, a mesmerizing teller of it, but the entire litigation could be the basis for a law school seminar. It is brimming with legal ethics and civil procedure issues, among others, and (very) agggressive litigation strategies.
Of course, as Yogi said, it's not over til it's over and it will be years more before it is.
Meanwhile, the story so far reads like a cross between "The Verdict" and "A Civil Action," with more intrigue (and bigger stakes) than in either. "My Cousin Vinny" it is not.
It was once true that a film about a David and Goliath battle had to end with David's victory. Hollywood isn't like that anymore. In our time, cynicism can play better than justice. I imply no view on where justice resides in this saga. Probably no single place, probably we'll never know for sure.
But that very uncertainty, and the audience discomfort it creates, today qualifies as a Hollywood ending.
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