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Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Ind. Decisions - Note 7th Circuit sanctions in Illinois case
Thanks to Robert Loblaw of the blog Decision of the Day for picking up on Judge Easterbrook's opinion today in the case out of the ND Illinois, Wade v. Soo Line RR Corp.
In an entry titled "More Trouble for 7th Circuit Lawyers," Lobloaw writes:
Discovery sanctions are pretty common these days. Questions about who should pay sanctions - attorney or client - are usually dealt with in private rather than in appellate briefs. And for good reason. In this Seventh Circuit appeal, the plaintiff’s attorneys argued that their client should be personally liable for sanctions relating to withheld documents. Bad idea. The Court finds this to be a clear conflict of interest, and Chief Judge Easterbrook’s opinion suggests that the attorneys are going to be in for a serious spanking from the Court, and perhaps from the state bar as well.Indeed, Easterbrook's opinion concludes:
Arguments designed to protect the attorney at the expense of the client are precisely the sort of acts that invite discipline. An attempt to defraud the court (and the defendant) by withholding vital documents has been compounded by an effort to make the client bear the consequences.The judgment of the district court is affirmed except for the amount of fees and costs awarded to Soo Line; that portion of the judgment is vacated and remanded for recalculation. Wade’s attorneys, Steven P. Garmisa, George T. Brugess, Richard A. Haydu, Frank E. Van Bree, and Robert A. Montgomery, are ordered to show cause by September 19, 2007 why they should not be disciplined by this court pursuant to Fed. R. App. P. 46(b)–(c) for conduct unbecoming members of the bar. We will forward a copy of this opinion to the Northern District of Illinois and the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of Illinois for such consideration as they deem appropriate.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 29, 2007 02:28 PM
Posted to Indiana Decisions