Chevron in Ecuador

The archive of the Clean Up Ecuador campaign website


Donziger Files Motion for New Attorneys to Represent Him at Upcoming Trial

Gowen Group Law Office
8 October 2013 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Karen Hinton at +1.703.798.3109


New York, NY – Steven R. Donziger filed a motion today asking U.S. federal Judge Lewis A. Kaplan to allow him to be represented by two prominent lawyers in a bench trial involving Chevron’s racketeering case over an Ecuador environmental judgment, scheduled to start Oct. 15.

The lawyers are Richard Friedman of Friedman Rubin in Seattle, and Zoe Littlepage of Littlepage-Booth in Houston.

Friedman, a Harvard Law School graduate, has won dozens of judgments for clients around the country in the areas of personal injury, defamation, and business torts. He is currently President of the Inner Circle of Advocates, an invitation-only group that limits its membership to 100 of the leading trial attorneys in the country. He is also a member of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and the author of four best-selling books on trial advocacy.

Friedman is a member of the bars of Alaska, California, Washington, and Nevada.

Littlepage, also a member of the Inner Circle of Advocates and a native of Trinidad, is lead counsel nationwide for federal personal injury claims caused by Prempro hormone replacement drugs. In 2003, she was appointed by Judge William R. Wilson, Jr. of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas to the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee for the federal multi-district litigation.

Littlepage, a graduate of Emory Law School, is a member of the Texas bar.

“I am gratified that two highly skilled lawyers have agreed to represent me in this critical case where I believe my due process rights have been violated by the court’s rush to judgment in favor of Chevron,” said Donziger.

Donziger’s previous counsel, San Francisco trial lawyer John Keker, withdrew from the case in May of last year.

At the time, Keker said Judge Kaplan had let the case degenerate into a “Dickensian farce” due to Chevron’s abusive litigation tactics and what he described as the court’s “implacable hostility” toward Donziger. For background on Keker’s withdrawal, see here.

Since then, Donziger has been representing himself with the occasional assistance of volunteers and human rights lawyer Aaron Page, who continues as part of the trial team.

For Friedman’s bio, see here. For Littlepage’s bio, see here.