Attorney sanctioned for ‘harassing’ defendant
Where the husband, who is an attorney, filed multiple harassing or duplicative lawsuits against his ex-wife, he was barred from initiating any new actions against her in the EDVA without leave of court...
View ArticleAttorney barred from ‘harassing’ ex with lawsuits
After finding that he filed multiple harassing and duplicative pro se lawsuits against his ex-wife, the Eastern District of Virginia has enjoined a DC-barred attorney from initiating any new actions...
View ArticleAttorneys’ fees awarded for noncompliance with order
Where the defendant was ordered to provide financial statements to the plaintiff, but failed to do so, and the court then granted a motion to enforce judgment, the plaintiff was awarded her reasonable...
View ArticlePre-filing injunction may be entered against litigant
Where a woman has repeatedly – but unsuccessfully – sued the same defendant for the same conduct, and the record showed this latest lawsuit was unlikely to succeed and was instead intended to cause him...
View ArticlePre-filing injunction entered against vexatious plaintiff
Where plaintiff has a history of filing vexatious, harassing and duplicative lawsuits against the defendant, each of which was dismissed but which burdened the court and the defendant, and lesser...
View ArticleClients relieved of sanctions; former counsel remains liable for frivolous...
The Fairfax County Circuit Court refused to reconsider its award of more than $200,000 in sanctions to the defendants in a failed investment lawsuit but relieved the plaintiffs of joint and several...
View ArticleDetainee alleges critical evidence not preserved
Where a detainee moved to sanction correctional officials for failing to preserve four hours of video footage recorded by a surveillance camera in a medical cell, but it was not clear whether the...
View ArticlePro se plaintiff avoids sanctions
Where the court denied the pro se woman’s motion to disqualify the defendants’ attorney, but the defendants failed to show that her motion specifically violated the applicable rules, their request for...
View ArticleNo sanctions levied for ‘deplorable’ communications
Although a man subpoenaed for deposition engaged in bad faith conduct when he sent emails to the plaintiff’s attorneys mocking them, hurling insults, using profanity and threatening to ruin their...
View ArticleDisparaging emails not sanctionable
The Western District of Virginia has declined to impose sanctions on a nonparty subpoenaed for deposition who engaged in bad faith conduct when he emailed the plaintiff’s attorneys to profanely mock,...
View ArticleDefendants avoid sanctions despite violating court order
Although defendants found to have violated the Fair Labor Standards Act, or FLSA, were ordered to provide payroll records to the Department of Labor and pay overtime to its employees, and they failed...
View ArticleAward of attorneys’ fees vacated
Where the district court concluded a woman’s Fair Housing Act claims were without foundation merely because she did not prevail at summary judgment, and awarded fees based upon that conclusion, it...
View Article‘Legal error’: Fourth Circuit vacates award of attorneys’ fees
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated an award of attorneys’ fees in a Fair Housing Act suit, finding that the appellant’s case “was not ‘without foundation.’”
View ArticleCourt won’t sanction plaintiff for issuing subpoenas to city
Where a plaintiff moved to compel a non-party to respond to subpoenas, and the non-party then filed a motion for sanctions, arguing that the motion to compel was filed in an effort to circumvent a...
View ArticleAttorney suspended from practicing before USPTO
Where the United States Patent and Trademark Office suspended an attorney from practice before the agency for one year, and there was a rational basis for the suspension decision, it was affirmed....
View ArticleFailure to abide by court order results in contempt finding
Where a party failed to comply with a prior court order, it was held in civil contempt. A daily $2,500 fine was imposed until it complied with the order, and it was liable for the other party’s...
View ArticleSanctions: Court won’t reconsider spoilation ruling
Where the court previously denied an inmate’s spoilation motion without prejudice to refiling it if the court denied the defendants’ failure-to-exhaust motion, the inmate’s reconsideration motion was...
View ArticleSanctions: Pre-filing injunction entered against serial plaintiff
By continually suing a man with slightly altered — though uniformly insufficient — legal theories that address the same underlying incident, the plaintiff violated Rule 11. He was enjoined from again...
View ArticleSanctions: Court vacates default order against Coast Guard officer
Where an entry of default was entered against a Coast Guard officer after she failed to respond to a suit by her former live-in nanny, but the officer (mistakenly) believed that she had 60 days to...
View ArticleSanctions: Court significantly reduces outside counsel’s rates
Where Liberty University was entitled to recover its fees and costs incurred in prevailing on a spoilation motion, but its outside counsel’s rates ranged from $160 (for support staff) to $988 (for the...
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