Thursday, January 23, 2020

How much for that monster?

Image result for monster moneyLaw360 has 7th Circ. Sets Fee Penalty For Atty Who Filed 'Monstrosity'. This is the case where the appellant's lawyer was too busy to draft the opening brief, and so allowed his client to draft and then e-file the brief under his name, using his e-filing codes. The brief was horrible (the court called it incoherent gibberish) and sanctions imposed in an amount to be determined. Now's it's been determined: over $41K for one defendant and over $30K for another, for a grand total of about $72K.
"I have suffered through the most embarrassing and stressful moments of my legal career and perhaps my life during the oral argument and after the publication of the court's opinion," [Appellant's counsel] told the court. "My reputation has been tarnished at the highest level as a result of my actions that caused such a scathing opinion in this matter."
[1/24/20 Today's DJ has Louie Castoria's The 7 Deadly Sins of Legal Writing, using this case as an example. FYI, Louie's listing of the 7 Deadly Sins: Falsity, Tardiness, Noncompliance, Unsupported, Unpersuasive, Unfocused, Boring.]