The now 22-year litigation by Ecuadorian rainforest communities against Chevron over oil pollution in the Amazon has resulted in one of the largest judgments against an American company in history (approx. $10 billion with costs). This panel will examine the litigation and policy implications of this historic battle for justice. The discussion will touch on international human rights, environmental law, international comity, investor treaty arbitration, attorney ethics, and corporate accountability. The panel will include Luis Yanza, a Goldman Prize winner and community advocate; Paola Romero, an Ecuadorian lawyer; Steven Donziger, a U.S. lawyer for the affected communities and the primary target of Chevron’s retaliation campaign; Aaron Marr Page, a U.S. human rights lawyer who has worked with the communities for several years; Murray Klippenstein, a leading Canadian human rights lawyer and intervenor in the enforcement action against Chevron in Canada; and Jamie San Andres, an Ecuadorian-American graduate student in the Sociology Department at Northeastern University.
Sponsored by: Harvard IGL&P; Co-sponsored by: La Alianza, Harvard Environmental Law Society, NUSL Environmental Law Society, NUSL’s Program on Human Rights & the Global Economy (PHRGE), Harvard Environmental Law Review, NUSL Human Rights Caucus, Unbound, Harvard Environmental Law & Policy Clinic, Students for Inclusion, Harvard Ecuadorian Students Association, National Lawyers Guild – Harvard & Northeastern chapters.