雪佛龙的律师背叛了这家石油公司吗？ - 彭博社

斯蒂文·唐齐格，图中所示，和地球权利组织正在向吉布森·邓恩抛泥，以试图混淆等待在切vron诉唐齐格案中裁决的相关方照片由弗雷德·R·康拉德/《纽约时报》通过Redux提供这是一个由切vron的对手们传播的有趣小道消息：吉布森、邓恩和克鲁彻，切vron的外部律师事务所，背叛了他们的客户！哇。这听起来像是切vron的麻烦。吉布森·邓恩，是全国最著名的企业律师事务所之一。直到，实际上，人们查看事实。

“切vron自己的律师危及切vron-厄瓜多尔RICO诉讼的命运”在一篇博客文章的标题上宣称，作者是位于华盛顿的非营利倡导组织地球权利国际。我通过斯蒂文·唐齐格的一封群发电子邮件得知了这篇文章，他是一位正在被切vron起诉的纽约原告律师。唐齐格和地球权利组织正在向吉布森·邓恩抛泥，以试图混淆等待在切vron诉唐齐格案中裁决的相关方。地球权利甚至暗示“这场永无止境的诉讼的下一阶段可能会看到切vron起诉自己的律师。”不太可能。

这里是真相：唐齐格代表成千上万的贫困雨林农民和部落成员在厄瓜多尔成功起诉了切vron，他们指责这家美国跨国公司在亚马逊地区造成污染。20多年前在美国开始的法庭敌对行动 culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culminated culmin

雪佛龙反驳称，唐齐格通过胁迫和贿赂取得胜利——他对此否认。这家石油公司通过在纽约联邦法院根据美国反敲诈法起诉原告律师，将斗争带回美国。去年秋天，这场民事审判展开，对唐齐格来说并不顺利。他承认他预计会被判定为有责任——裁决可能随时会作出——因为他将自己的厄瓜多尔诉讼变成了一场敲诈行动。

唐齐格是一位游击传播的高手，除了其他技能外，他试图在雪佛龙和吉布森·邓恩之间制造不和，以期待敲诈判决和他不可避免的上诉。他的宣传表面上看起来很有吸引力：在试图证明唐齐格是一个真正的黑帮分子的过程中，雪佛龙已请求一位联邦法官下令禁止原告律师或他的客户从他们在厄瓜多尔的不当判决中获益。（唐齐格无法迫使雪佛龙在厄瓜多尔支付，因为该公司在这个小安第斯国家没有可言的资产。）

吉布森·邓恩辩称，美国地区法官路易斯·卡普兰可能根据《反敲诈影响和腐败组织法》（RICO）施加这样的命令或禁令。然而，在纽约联邦法院针对另一位客户的一个单独案件中，吉布森·邓恩辩称，私人方不能根据RICO获得禁令。唐齐格的发言人韩山称这种矛盾立场是雪佛龙自己外部律师事务所吉布森·邓恩可能造成的“致命打击”。

让我们理清楚。RICO是否赋予私人方获得禁令的权力是一个未解决的问题。一些法官说可以；另一些法官则说不可以。尽管RICO自1970年以来就存在，但它是一部复杂的法规，这个细节仍有待解决。与此同时，律师事务所可以根据支付账单的利益，选择任一方进行辩论。

这，无论好坏，就是律师所做的事情。一天，律师为司法部工作，试图将白领被告送进监狱；第二天（或者更可能是明年），律师为同样的白领被告辩护。你想要一致性？那就和哲学家、神学家，或者更好的是，一只训练有素的狗待在一起。

现在，当一家雇佣律师事务所要在一个问题上辩论双方时，就像吉布森·邓恩所做的那样，它必须获得受影响案件中客户的许可。吉布森·邓恩正是这样做的。雪佛龙发言人摩根·克林克劳表示，他的雇主对此表示赞同。“法律界多年来一直关注关于私人RICO禁令救济的开放问题的双方，”克林克劳通过电子邮件告诉我。“雪佛龙对另一支吉布森·邓恩团队在不同案件中涉及不同客户的工作没有任何担忧。雪佛龙相信其对禁令救济的请求将在[针对唐齐格的诉讼中]得到支持，但法律问题最终将由最高法院解决。这只是原告制造争议并转移注意力以掩盖他们自己欺诈和犯罪活动的最新尝试。”

实际上，情况比这更糟：唐齐格在表现得不诚实。“这一把戏的荒谬性，”克林克劳补充道，“体现在原告的长期律师埃默里·塞利正在为他们现在抱怨的同一独立案件中争取私人RICO禁令救济。”

头脑还在旋转吗？埃默里·塞利·布林克霍夫与阿巴迪，一家过去曾与唐齐格肩并肩为厄瓜多尔原告工作的纽约律师事务所，也出现在独立的纽约案件中——并在RICO禁令问题上与唐齐格持相反立场。虽然这可能不太好看，但这就是律师所做的事情。

在2月7日，当吉布森·邓恩在RICO问题上的灵活性被提请给美国第二巡回法院的圭多·卡拉布雷西时，这位杰出的法官基本上打了个哈欠。吉布森·邓恩的律师“完全有权”为不同的客户采取不同的立场，卡拉布雷西说。

关于亚马逊污染的漫长法律斗争在双方都表现出不一致。德克萨斯公司（Texaco），在2001年被雪佛龙收购，最初争取在美国驳回诉讼，称适合审理的地方是厄瓜多尔，该石油公司对其法院表示赞赏。一旦合并后的公司获得了它想要的管辖权，雪佛龙就反过来主张厄瓜多尔的法院是腐败的。唐齐格（Donziger）则最初希望在纽约进行诉讼，称他的客户在厄瓜多尔无法获得公正。一旦他在那里取得成功——据称是利用了厄瓜多尔司法习俗的某种宽松——他突然将这个安第斯国家视为法庭正当性的真正奥林匹斯。

律师们提出他们认为在当前情况下有效的论点。在雪佛龙诉唐齐格案中，更重要的是原告的律师是否确实是一个骗子，正如石油公司所指控的，或者如唐齐格所坚持的那样被不公正地迫害。如果他被判定为民事敲诈，那将削弱他在第三国收取厄瓜多尔判决的能力，无论卡普兰法官在纽约制定何种补救措施。而且卡普兰还有其他选择，而不仅仅是RICO禁令。

判定责任的结果也会削弱唐齐格作为法庭官员和律师协会成员的职业声誉。他在厄瓜多尔使用的可疑法律手段为雪佛龙提供了充足的理由来抵制污染争议的解决。从这个角度来看，人们不禁想知道，唐齐格的策略虽然看似聪明，是否真的符合他客户的长期利益。