Chevron Fires Back: “We’re Not the Villain”
Chevron’s legal team, led by Mike Phillips of Kean Miller LLP, quickly announced plans to appeal, condemning what it called “numerous legal errors that led to this unjust result.”
“Chevron is not the cause of the land loss occurring in Breton Sound,” said Phillips, arguing that the Louisiana State and Local Coastal Resources Management Act, the law under which the verdict was rendered, doesn’t apply retroactively to activities from decades past — long before the law was enacted in 1980.
Industry Titans Sound the Alarm: A Verdict That Could Shake the Economy
The Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association issued a stark warning: the verdict sets a dangerous precedent that could chill investment and undermine Louisiana’s economic future.
“Louisiana cannot prosper in its current litigious climate,” the association said in a fiery statement. “This verdict hands lawyers a payday and tells global investors Louisiana is closed for business.”
The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry echoed the sentiment, with CEO Will Green lamenting what he called a blow to an industry that supports over 250,000 jobs and funnels billions annually into the state economy — including coastal restoration.
“These baseless lawsuits jeopardize one of our state’s most vital industries,” Green warned, accusing trial lawyers of exploiting the courts while Louisiana families and workers bear the fallout. “Instead of collaboration, this ruling opens the floodgates to more frivolous litigation that could unravel our economic foundation.”
