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Chevron Corporation v. Republic of Ecuador
Citations: 987 F. Supp. 2d 82; 2013 WL 5797334; 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 154529Docket: Civil Action No. 2012-1247
Court: District Court, District of Columbia; October 29, 2013; Federal District Court
Original Court Document: View Document
On June 6, 2013, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted Chevron Corporation and Texaco Petroleum Company’s petition to confirm a foreign arbitral award against the Republic of Ecuador. Due to Ecuador's lack of substantial assets in the district, Chevron filed a motion to register the award in other U.S. judicial districts to satisfy the judgment. Ecuador opposed this motion, arguing it was overly broad and requested that registration be limited to districts where Chevron could prove Ecuador had substantial assets. Chevron submitted a sealed declaration detailing Ecuadorian assets in various districts. After an unsuccessful attempt at resolution via conference call, the Court decided to grant Chevron’s motion, indicating it believed Chevron had a stronger argument. The legal standard under 28 U.S.C. § 1963 allows for the registration of a money judgment in other districts if the judgment is final or if good cause is shown. Good cause can be established when there are no assets in the issuing district and substantial assets in the registration district. Additionally, permission to register is typically deferred until the judgment debtor has failed to post a supersedeas bond. In this case, Ecuador has not posted such a bond, and it is acknowledged that it lacks sufficient assets in the district of issuance to cover the approximately $100 million judgment. The Court is thus tasked with determining if Chevron has demonstrated good cause for registration outside the district. The central issue in the dispute between Chevron and Ecuador is whether Chevron must demonstrate the presence of substantial Ecuadorian assets in a specific district before being allowed to register a judgment, or if it can register in any district it chooses. Ecuador argues that prevailing legal standards prevent registration in districts without identified substantial assets. However, the Court disagrees, noting that previous cases permitting registration in specific districts typically involved requests for limited registration rather than broad applications like Chevron's. The Court supports a more flexible approach, allowing registration "in any other district" once good cause is established, specifically when the defendant lacks assets in the judgment forum but has substantial assets in other forums. The Court cites multiple precedents that endorse this position, emphasizing that identifying specific districts could enable Ecuador to relocate assets and evade seizure. While Ecuador expresses concern about the costs of potential subpoenas across numerous districts, the Court reasons that Chevron would not register in districts unlikely to contain Ecuadorian assets and that any required involvement from Ecuador would only arise if assets are actually located. Ultimately, the Court concludes that national registration is more practical for cases involving mobile assets and grants Chevron the motion to register the judgment in any judicial district.