Kiobel’s fight for Shell discovery: Lawyer skirmishes on eve of U.S. Court of Appeals hearing

Esther Kiobel has been fighting for more than a decade to obtain justice for the murder of her husband Dr. Barinem Kiobel and crimes committed against her, for which she holds Shell responsible. Shell supported and financed the corrupt Abacha regime in Nigeria.

By John Donovan

Shell’s U.S. lawyers Cravath, Swaine & Moore, appealed against a decision by a U.S. federal judge that Cravath should hand over for use in Dutch litigation against Shell, more than 100,000 items of Shell internal discovery documents stored by Cravath in a secure warehouse located in the USA.

I have routinely published available appeal court documents that would otherwise be hidden behind a pay wall. The documents below were filed with the court in the days just before the appeal court hearing by various parties involved, including Washington DC lawyers Hogan Lovells representing Cravath, and EarthRights International acting for Esther Kiobel.

The arguments being advanced and rebutted were still in progress the day before the hearing on 12 September 2017, which may have been filmed by Dutch news media.

The panel of three appeal court  judges that heard the case have not yet reached a decision.

LATEST COURT DOCUMENTS

Court of Appeals Docket #: 17-424 Docketed: 02/14/2017
Nature of Suit: 3890 STATUTES-Other
Kiobel v. Cravath, Swaine & Moore, LLP
Appeal From: SDNY (NEW YORK CITY)

KiobelDoc121: Request for leave to bring electronic devices into Courtroom 1703

Kiobeldoc128: LETTER, dated 09/11/2017, on behalf of Appellee Esther Kiobel, RECEIVED. Service date 09/11/2017 by CM/ECF.[2121082] [17-424] [Entered: 09/11/2017 11:36 AM]

Kiobeldoc130: ORDER, dated 09/11/2017, Appellee’s counsel Marco B. Simons and Alison Borochoff-Porte’s request to bring in two laptop computers and two cellular phones into Courtroom 1703 is GRANTED, FILED.[2121237] [17-424] [Entered: 09/11/2017 01:01 PM]

Kiobeldoc133: LETTER, dated 09/11/2017, on behalf of Appellant Cravath, Swaine & Moore, LLP, RECEIVED. Service date 09/11/2017 by CM/ECF.[2121828] [17-424] [Entered: 09/11/2017 05:49 PM]

Kiobeldoc137: NOTICE OF APPEARANCE AS SUBSTITUTE COUNSEL, on behalf of Amicus Curiae Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, FILED. Service date 09/25/2017 by CM/ECF. [2133046] [17-424] [Entered: 09/25/2017 08:36 PM]

Esther Kiobel has been fighting for more than a decade to obtain justice for the murder of her husband Dr. Barinem Kiobel and crimes committed against her, for which she holds Shell responsible. Shell supported and financed the corrupt Abacha regime in Nigeria.

Disclosure: The lead claimant Esther Kiobel, Channa Samkalden of the Dutch human rights law firm Prakken d’Oliveira representing the widows, and the acclaimed human rights organisation Amnesty International, have all acknowledged the involvement of John Donovan in bringing *this case. (*See Writ of Summons in English and Dutch served on Shell 28 June 2017 – copy obtained from US Pacer public electronic court records)

Shell blanket denial: Shell’s blanket denial of any responsibility for the ‘Ogoni Nine’ executions and related events/allegations can be read here. The denial does not explain why Shell settled for $15.5 million in June 2009 a case legally and substantively the same.

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