Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP Responds to False Assertions of Sanctions in Amazon Defense Coalition Press Release

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Dec 07, 2010, 06:05 ET

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 7, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- On November 22, 2010, Amazon Defense Coalition issued a press release stating falsely that Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP and its client Chevron were sanctioned by a U.S. federal court in Chevron v. Stratus Consulting, a case relating to environmental litigation in Ecuador.

In fact, no sanctions were granted by the judge.

Following the Amazon Defense Coalition's false release, Magistrate Judge Michael Hegarty issued an order on November 23, 2010 to clarify that he did not "sanction" anyone in his prior November 15 order regarding the plaintiffs' motion for sanctions, stating "the Court denied the motion to the extent it sought sanctions."

While the denial of sanctions was always clear from the Court's November 15 order, Amazon Defense Coalition's press release instead made knowingly false and defamatory statements to the public that Chevron and its lawyers had been "sanctioned" and "violated bar rules." Worse yet, even in light of the unequivocal statement in the November 23 order that the request for sanctions had been denied and no sanction had ever been imposed, the Amazon Defense Coalition has not taken appropriate steps to correct the dissemination of this knowing falsehood in the media or in their federal court filings.

To correct the public record, Gibson Dunn has issued this statement and has sent a letter to counsel for the plaintiffs and Amazon Defense Coalition, requesting that they take immediate action to have all press releases, articles, blog posts, or other public statements mentioning the so-called sanctions removed from the websites controlled by the plaintiffs, the Amazon Defense Coalition and its affiliates, such as Amazon Watch. Gibson Dunn has also requested a public retraction.

SOURCE Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP