Chevron Corp. v. Naranjo: Goliath's global anti-enforcement injunction against David.

• Date: 01 July 2012

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The cliched David vs. Goliath depiction is one which is often used when describing legal cases. But Ecuador's Lago Agrio community vs. the Chevron Corporation is one legal battle which aptly fits the analogy.

The controversial case has a long history, involving alleged environmental violations in Ecuador's Amazon region by Texaco (now Chevron) from 1964 to 1992, allegations of corruption, and litigation since 1993. Along the way there have been many twists and turns, a high public profile (Justice Lynch of the Second District Court even calling it "among the most extensively told in the history of the American federal judiciary"), as well as a critically acclaimed Sundance documentary produced about the conflict (which incidentally also became the subject of further litigation).

Now, a judgment by the United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit Court ("Second Circuit Court"), provides the latest chapter on the almost two-decade legal roller coaster.

David Beats Goliath By A Landslide

The background story involves a conflict between the defendant Chevron Corporation ("Chevron") and the plaintiff Lago Agrio ("LAP"), residents of the Ecuadorian Amazon region.

The plaintiffs allege that from 1964 to 1992 Chevron's predecessor, Texaco, caused severe environmental damage and polluted the region during its oil extraction operation. Texaco ended its operation in the region in 1992, but in 1993 LAP filed a claim in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York ("District Court") for "a variety of environmental, health, and other tort claims related to the...