10-1020-cv (L)Republic of Ecuador v. Chevron
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
1
F
OR THE
S
ECOND
C
IRCUIT
2
34
August Term, 2010
56
(Argued: August 5, 2010 Decided: March 17, 2011)
78
Docket Nos. 10-1020-cv (L) 10-1026 (Con)
9
1011
R
EPUBLIC OF
E
CUADOR
,
1213
Petitioner-Appellant
,
1415
D
ANIEL
C
ARLOS
L
USITAND
Y
AIGUAJE
,
V
ENANCIO
F
REDDY
C
HIMBO
C
HEFA
,
M
IGUEL
16
M
ARIO
P
AYAGUAJE
P
AYAGUAJE
,
T
EODORO
G
ONZALO
P
IAGUAJE
P
AYAGUAJE
,
S
IMON
17
L
USITANDE
Y
AIGUAJE
,
A
RMANDO
W
ILMER
P
IAGUAJE
P
AYAGUAJE
,
J
AVIER
P
IAGUAJE
18
P
AYAGUAJE
,
F
ERMIN
P
IAGUAJE
,
L
UIS
A
GUSTIN
P
AYAGUA
P
IAGUAJE
,
E
MILIO
M
ARTIN
19
L
USITAND
Y
AIGUAJE
,
R
EINALDO
L
USITANDE
Y
AIGUAJE
,
M
ARIA
V
ICTORIA
A
GUIND
20
S
ALAZAR
,
C
ARLOS
G
REGA
H
UATATOCA
,
C
ATALINA
A
NTONIA
A
GUINDA
S
ALAZAR
,
L
IDIA
21
A
LEXANDRIA
A
GUI
A
GUINDA
,
C
LIDE
R
AMIRO
A
GUINDA
A
GUINDA
,
L
UIS
A
RMANDO
22
C
HIMBO
Y
UMBO
,
B
EATRIZ
M
ERCEDES
G
REFA
T
ANGUILA
,
L
UCIO
E
NRIQUE
G
REFA
23
T
ANGUILA
,
P
ATRICIO
W
ILSON
A
GUINDA
A
GUINDA
,
P
ATRICIO
A
LBERTO
C
HIMBO
Y
UMBO
,
24
S
EGUNDO
A
NGEL
A
MANTA
M
ILAN
,
F
RANCISCO
M
ATIAS
A
LVARADO
Y
UMBO
,
O
LGA
25
G
LORIA
G
REFA
C
ERDA
,
N
ARCISA
T
ANGUILA
N
ARVAEZ
,
B
ERTHA
Y
UMBO
T
ANGUILA
,
26
L
UCRECIA
T
ANGUILA
G
REFA
,
F
RANCISCO
V
ICTOR
T
ANGUILA
G
REFA
,
R
OSA
T
ERESA
27
C
HIMBO
T
ANGUILA
,
M
ARIA
C
LELIA
R
EASCOS
R
EVELO
,
H
ELEODORO
P
ATARON
G
UARACA
,
28
C
ELIA
I
RENE
V
IVEROS
C
USANGUA
,
L
ORENZO
J
OSE
A
LVARADO
Y
UMBO
,
F
RANCISCO
29
A
LVARADO
Y
UMBO
,
J
OSE
G
ABRIEL
R
EVELO
L
LORE
,
L
UIZA
D
ELIA
T
ANGUILA
N
ARVAEZ
,
30
J
OSE
M
IGUEL
I
PIALES
C
HICAIZA
,
H
UGO
G
ERARDO
C
AMACHO
N
ARANJO
,
M
ARIA
31
M
AGDALENA
R
ODRIGUEZ
,
E
LIAS
P
IYAHUAJE
P
IYAHUAJE
,
L
OURDES
B
EATRIS
C
HIMBO
32
T
ANGUILA
,
O
CTAVIO
C
ORDOVA
H
UANCA
,
C
ELIA
I
RENE
V
IVEROS
C
USANGUA
,
G
UILLERMO
33
P
AYAGUAJE
L
UCITANDE
,
A
LFREDO
P
AYAGUAJE
,
D
ELFIN
P
AYAGUAJE
,
3435
Plaintiffs-Appellants
,
3637
—
v.—
3839
C
HEVRON
C
ORPORATION
,
T
EXACO
P
ETROLEUM
C
OMPANY
,
4041
Defendants-Appellees
.
42
4344
Case: 10-1020 Document: 282-1 Page: 1 03/17/2011 236790 30
*
Chief Judge Dennis Jacobs was designated as the third member of the panel pursuantto Internal Operating Procedure E(b), replacing Judge Reena Raggi, who recused herself earlier in these proceedings.
2
B e f o r e:
12
J
ACOBS
,
*
Chief Judge
,
P
OOLER
and L
YNCH
,
Circuit Judges
.
34
__________________
5
The Republic of Ecuador and a group of Ecuadorian citizens appeal from the district
6
court’s (Leonard B. Sand,
Judge
) denial of their motions to stay an arbitration between
7
Chevron Corporation and Ecuador. On appeal, Ecuador argues that Chevron waived its right
8
to arbitrate and is otherwise estopped from arbitrating the claims now pending before the
9
arbitral panel, while the Ecuadorian citizens, who are not parties to the arbitration, argue for
10
a stay on various estoppel theories. We hold that Ecuador’s waiver and estoppel claims
11
should be determined by the arbitral panel, and that the Ecuadorian citizens are not entitled
12
to a stay of the arbitration based on equitable, collateral, or judicial estoppel.
13
A
FFIRMED
.
14
1516
G
ENE
C.
S
CHAERR
(Eric W. Bloom, Lauren M. Butcher, Gregory L. Ewing, C.
17
MacNeil Mitchell,
on the brief
), Winston & Strawn LLP,
Washington,
18
DC and New York, New York,
for Petitioner-Appellant
.
1920
J
ONATHAN
S.
A
BADY
(Ilann M. Maazel, O. Andrew F. Wilson,
on the brief
),
21
Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady LLP, New York, New York,
for
22
Plaintiffs-Appellants
.
2324
R
ANDY
M.
M
ASTRO
(Edward G. Kehoe, Daniel J. King,
King & Spalding,
25
New York, New York,
Scott A. Edelman, Thomas G. Hungar,
on the
26
brief
), Gibson, Dunn, & Crutcher LLP, New York, New York, Los
27
Angeles, California, and Washington, DC,
for Defendants-Appellees
.
2829
Case: 10-1020 Document: 282-1 Page: 2 03/17/2011 236790 30
1
Chevron Corporation merged with TexPet’s parent company, Texaco, in 2001 to
1
form ChevronTexaco, Inc. In 2005, ChevronTexaco changed its name back to Chevron
2
Corporation.
33
Daniel A. Cohen, Kornstein Veisz Wexler & Pollard, LLP, New York, New
1
York,
for Amici Curiae Emergency Committee for American Trade and
2
National Association of Manufacturers in support of Defendants-
3
Appellees.
45
Carter G. Phillips, Kathleen M. Mueller, Sidley Austin LLP, Washington, DC,
6
Robin S. Conrad, Amar D. Sarwal, National Chamber Litigation
7
Center, Inc., Washington, DC,
for Amicus Curiae Chamber of
8
Commerce of the United States of America in support of Defendants-
9
Appellees
.
1011
12
G
ERARD
E.
L
YNCH
,
Circuit Judge
:
13
For nearly seventeen years, in litigation spanning two continents and numerous
14
courtrooms, a group of Ecuadorian citizens (“Plaintiffs”) have sought relief for
15
environmental devastation allegedly caused by defendant-appellee Texaco Petroleum
16
Company’s (“TexPet”) oil exploration and drilling operations in the Ecuadorian
17
rainforest. In 2001, the district court (Jed S. Rakoff,
Judge
) dismissed Plaintiffs’ initial
18
action on Chevron’s forum non conveniens motion, and Plaintiffs refiled their claims in
19
Lago Agrio, Ecuador, where they are currently being litigated.
20
Recently, Chevron Corporation
1
and TexPet (collectively, “Chevron”) invoked the
21
arbitration clause in Ecuador’s Bilateral Investment Treaty (“BIT”) with the United
22
States, and initiated arbitration against Ecuador. See Treaty Between The United States
23
of America and The Republic of Ecuador Concerning the Encouragement and Reciprocal
24
Protection of Investments, U.S.-Ecuador, Aug. 27, 1993, S. Treaty Doc. No. 103-15
25
[hereinafter Bilateral Investment Treaty]. Chevron’s notice of arbitration asserted that
26
Case: 10-1020 Document: 282-1 Page: 3 03/17/2011 236790 30
Search History:
Result 00 of 00
00 results for result for
p.
3/17/11 Second Circuit Decision- International Arbitration
1.0K
Reads
0
Readcasts
0
Embed Views
More From This User
Notes
Load more
