In the Municipality of San Juan’s climate change lawsuit against oil industry defendants, the federal district court for the District of Puerto Rico found that San Juan’s counsel committed attorney misconduct by failing to respond to defense counsel’s communications regarding a briefing schedule and by failing to timely oppose motions or to request an extension of time, and also by plagiarizing from the complaint, briefs, and other filings made by different and unrelated counsel in a lawsuit filed by other Puerto Rican municipalities. The court found that the attorney “lifted not only the entire theory of San Juan’s case from the Municipalities’ Case but went so far to use virtually the very same words and ideas, usurping the thought processes and legal theories a client hires an attorney to develop and perform.” The court found that the plagiarism violated both the attorney’s duty of competence to his client and also his duty of candor to the court. The court ordered the attorney to show cause why he should not be sanctioned $7,000 for untimely filings and lack of diligence in the management of case deadlines. The court said it would issue a separate order to address the plagiarism issue because a monetary sanction “would be insufficient to address the seriousness of the circumstances.”

Lawsuit brought by the Municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico seeking to hold fossil fuel companies liable for losses resulting from storms during the 2017 hurricane season and ongoing losses from climate change.

Municipality of San Juan v. Exxon Mobil Corp.

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Puerto Rico Federal Court Found that San Juan’s Counsel in Climate Case Committed Plagiarism and Other Misconduct

Filed

United States of America

Puerto Rico

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

A loan is a policy instrument where funds are provided to a borrower with the expectation of repaying the principal plus interest.

A company that is owned wholly or partially by the state, typically operating in key sectors.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

This sector includes firms and individuals offering specialised expertise in fields such as law, accounting, consulting, science and engineering.

Puerto Rico Federal Court Found that San Juan’s Counsel in Climate Case Committed Plagiarism and Other Misconduct

Policy instrument

Risk

Fossil fuel

Finance