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By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon

SDNY COURTHOUSE, August 6 – There are no fewer that four big oil cases pending against the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The cases involve arbitration awards and various oil fields; a backdrop includes longstanding human rights abuses by and allegations of corruption in Nigeria's oil sector.   

Back on July 16 Inner City Press sought to attend and cover a status conference in one of the cases, Statoil and Texaco v. NNPC, 18-cv-02392 before SDNY Judge Richard M. Berman. But the matter was put over until July 23 at noon.    When Inner City Press arrived at noon, both the plaintiffs and defendants tables were full; the courtroom was otherwise empty.   

The law firm for Texaco and Statoil, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer US LLP quickly told Judge Berman that the proceeding should be off the record and "in camera."   

 Now on August 6, the transcript has been made available on the PACER terminal in the SDNY Press Room where Inner City Press has been working perched over since April, and from which it now retypes:

Mr. Friedman: ...the respondents would prefer to have those discussions in camera off the record, if possible.

THE COURT: So, you know, our preference is always to have an open courtroom, and for hte moment I don't have enough information that would warrant a change, but why don't we say this. It is a public courtroom and we do have a member of the press here, in fact, a blogger. So if there is something you don't want to discuss, just don't say it, for openers, and then we'll see where we are.

  Yes, we will. On August 6, Judge Lorna G. Schofield explained to litigants, "Mr. Lee writes a legal blog, he is a frequent visitor to our court." Then Circuit Judge Richard J. Sullivan, in receipt of a written submission from Inner City Press regarding a request to seal a criminal sentencing, held a final pre trial conference in which the government asked to partially seal the courtroom even during a trial. We'll have more on this.

Judge Berman said "we have a member of the press in the courtroom, a blogger," and asked the parties to say what they could in open court. The request, in essence, was for a stay of the proceedings, such as similar cases before SDNY Judges Stanton and Kaplan have been stayed. (SDNY Judge William Pauley has pushed one of the four cases forward, on which we intend to report more.)   

  The Freshfields counsel told Judge Berman that a six months stay would avoid for the court "the burden of heavy discovery and motion practice."  

 Judge Berman replied, "That's why we're here, it's not really a burden for us."   

The law firm for the Nigerian state oil company, Chaffetz Lindsey LLP, repeated the argument for secrecy. In a July 18 letter to Judge Berman marked "MEMO ENDORSED" the firm wrote "on behalf of all parties to respectfully request that the status conference scheduled for next Tuesday, July 23, take place in camera and that any transcript of the proceedings be placed under seal."   

Judge Berman to his credit declined to taken things off the record. He told the parties that he was granting their request for a stay, until January 14, 2020 at 11 AM but that it is "very likely there will be no further stay."    

Will the same apply to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation cases before SDNY Judges Stanton and Kaplan? Watch this site. The full case name is Statoil (Nigeria) Limited and Texaco Nigeria Outer Shelf Limited v. Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, 18-cv-02392 (RMB).

Footnote: Ironically, the Nigerian government through its Mission to the UN has argued elsewhere in the SDNY that the recent elections explained it failure to even respond to a lawsuit by a young New Yorker run over by a Nigerian Mission vehicle with both registration and insurance expired.  Here's that story, July 10:

A few blocks from the United Nations on 49th Street and Second Avenue on 6 April 2018 Jennifer A. Edward was heading to her work as a lawfirm paralegal when a Nigerian Mission to the UN vehicle struck her, causing serious injury.    The vehicle's registration and insurance were both expired, in violation of the U.S. Diplomatic Relations Act.

The driver who was working for Nigeria's Mission had previously had accidents. But Nigeria and its mission refused to pay, or even fo months to respond to the lawsuit that was filed, and legally served as far away as Nigeria. Call it impunity, so prevalent in and around the UN.    

On July 10 the case came up before U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Paul G. Gardephe. While denying Ms. Edward's motion for default judgment, Judge Gardephe essentially mocked the Nigerian Mission's argument that they needed more time to explore the issue of pre-existing condition.    

Ms. Edward is in her 20s, and has run a New York City marathon. The Nigerian mission in belated filings with Judge Gardephe has tried to blame their failure to response on the recent elections leading to the continuation of rule by President Buhari.    

Inner City Press, having seen Buhari's administration engage in illegal refoulement to Cameroon, unremarked on by the UN's Nigerian Deputy Secretary General Amina J. Mohammed, and having seen the UN claim impunity for cholera in Haiti and roughing up and banning the Press in New York, went to cover the July 10 proceeding.   

Afterward it spoke generally with Ms. Edward's lawyer Scott A. Harford. He explained the difficulty of getting the lawsuit served in Nigeria, and the lack of responsiveness by the U.S. Mission to the UN which is supposed to ensure that other countries' Missions to the UN at least maintain car insurance.

The case is moving to Magistrate Judge Debra C. Freeman, more on Patreon here, and Inner City Press will continue to cover and pursue this and other related cases.

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