Chevron Corporation v. Donziger
- Lewis Kaplan
- 1:11-cv-00691
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 8
In United States v. Donziger, Judge Preska disqualified two defense lawyers, denied Donziger’s motion to disqualify another, and required backup counsel if needed.
Steven Donziger’s criminal defense team and trial representation, particularly Richard Friedman, Zoe Littlepage, Martin Garbus, Lauren Regan, and Andrew Frisch.
What happened
In United States of America v. Steven Donziger, the government requested a hearing to examine possible conflicts involving Richard Friedman and Zoe Littlepage, who had represented Donziger in an earlier civil case connected to the criminal contempt charges. The government planned to introduce correspondence involving those lawyers and Donziger at trial.
After the hearing, Donziger declined to give up his right to conflict-free counsel concerning Friedman and Littlepage. The court therefore disqualified both lawyers. The court also ruled that Andrew Frisch’s earlier withdrawal was no longer effective if Donziger’s remaining lawyers could not serve as lead counsel in an acceptable manner.
Judge Loretta A. Preska denied Donziger’s motion to disqualify Frisch, ruling that an unpaid-fee dispute and Frisch’s representation in another civil case did not create a conflict that would prevent him from defending Donziger. The court ordered that Frisch represent Donziger at trial if the remaining lawyers could not do so as specified.
The detailed version
- Chevron Corporation v. Donziger · No. 1:11-cv-00691
- Lewis Kaplan
- Aug. 28, 2020
Background
The government asked the court to hold a Curcio hearing concerning potential conflicts of interest involving Richard Friedman and Zoe Littlepage, two of Steven Donziger’s defense lawyers. A Curcio hearing examines whether a criminal defendant understands and knowingly gives up the right to conflict-free counsel. The government identified Friedman’s and Littlepage’s involvement in correspondence from 2014 and in post-judgment proceedings in the civil case underlying two of Donziger’s criminal contempt charges. The government said the correspondence could affect the defense even though it did not plan to call either lawyer as a trial witness.
The court held the hearing on August 24 and 27, 2020. It concluded that any conflict involving Friedman and Littlepage was at most a potential conflict that Donziger could waive. After consulting independent lawyers, Donziger said he could not waive those potential conflicts. The court therefore disqualified Friedman and Littlepage as his counsel.
Issues and Analysis
After those disqualifications, the court was told that Martin Garbus would not attend in person and reportedly could not participate by video, while Lauren Regan could not act as lead counsel. The court had previously allowed Andrew Frisch, Donziger’s former lead lawyer, to withdraw on the condition that the withdrawal would not affect the trial date. The court concluded that this condition was no longer satisfied and that Frisch’s withdrawal was void, requiring him to appear as trial counsel if Garbus and Regan did not represent Donziger in an acceptable manner or could not act as lead counsel.
Donziger argued that Frisch should also be disqualified because of an unresolved dispute over unpaid legal fees and because Frisch represented a client in an unrelated civil forfeiture case before the same court. The court treated those arguments as a motion to disqualify Frisch. It explained that a disqualifying conflict exists when the lawyer’s and client’s interests diverge on a material factual or legal issue or on a course of action. The court ruled that neither the fee dispute nor Frisch’s other representation created that type of conflict. It also stated that Frisch’s advocacy for Donziger would not affect the court’s view in the other proceeding.
Disposition
The court disqualified Friedman and Littlepage. It denied Donziger’s motion to disqualify Frisch. The court ordered that Frisch represent Donziger at the trial scheduled to begin September 9 if Garbus and Regan declined to appear, appeared in a manner Donziger found unacceptable, or were unable to act as lead counsel. Judge Loretta A. Preska entered the order on August 28, 2020.
Read the full 8-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.