“I wanted no part of it.”

That was Jeffrey Shinder testifying in October 2013, when the Constantine Cannon partner was asked why he walked away from a multibillion-dollar environmental lawsuit against Chevron Corporation in Ecuador. This week the wisdom of Shinder’s decision was hammered home by the law firm that took his place, Patton Boggs, when it surrendered its stake in the Chevron case and admitted that it should have followed Shinder’s lead.