By John Donovan
On Saturday 26 February we published an article authored by me entitled…
Machinations in New Jersey Court linking Royal Dutch Shell with ambulance chaser lawyers
It announced the surprising news that an Order which allowed Shell to proceed with a Non-U.S. settlement costing Shell shareholders over $400 million in respect of the 2004 reserves fraud had been sought and obtained by Liaison Counsel Keefe Bartels – New Jersey based “Personal Injury Lawyers”. We pointed out that they are “a type of law firm known as “ambulance chasers”; “a derogatory phrase sometimes used to describe a trial lawyer who specializes in representing accident victims” (definition borrowed from Wikipedia). I made the comment: “Perhaps it was useful to have such a law firm carrying out the liaison function”.
On the second working day after our article was published, Keefe Bartels sent a letter to the trial Judge, District Judge Joel A. Pisano, effectively resigning from the position of Liaison Counsel and putting forward a proposed replacement Jan Meyers & Associates. I note that the substitute Liaison Counsel is not a personal injury specialist. Keefe Bartels had acted as Liaison Counsel since 2004.
Judge Joel A. Pisano signed an Order authorising the change on 27 February 2008.
The fact that a firm of “ambulance chasers” had a key role in litigation involving hundreds of millions of dollars stuck out like a sore thumb when the information was put into the public domain. We had therefore speculated on whether the article may have prompted this unexpected development.
However, the resignation is almost certainly due to a dispute which has broken out between the lead plaintiff lawyers Bernstein Liebhard & Lifshitz, LLP and Keefe Bartels regarding the division of $27 million in legal fees being paid by Shell.
DOC 479: Resignation letter to Judge Joel A. Pisano from Liaison Counsel: 26 February 2008
http://www.shellnews.net/classactiondocs/479.pdf
DOC 480: Order authorising resignation and subsitution of Liaison Counsel: 27 Feb 2008
This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
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