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Los Angeles Lawyers, Firm Sanctioned

Evan Hill 04-06-2009 The Recorder A federal magistrate judge in Nevada sanctioned a Los Angeles firm, two of its lawyers and their client last Tuesday for what she called "scorched earth litigation tactics" in a trade secrets case. Magistrate Judge Valerie Cooke of Nevada District Court imposed roughly $20,000 in sanctions on Liner Grode Stein Yankelevitz Sunshine Regenstreif & Taylor. She handed down $102,205 in fines to Deborah Klar, an erstwhile attorney at the firm, and another $20,441 to Teri Pham, still with Liner Grode. Cooke also ordered Klar and Pham to perform a combined 300 hours of pro bono work, a punishment that one ethics expert said was unique. "The court concludes that the conduct of the Liner firm and its attorneys, Ms. Klar and Ms. Pham, was willfully reckless, intended to harass, done for an improper purpose, and was suffused with bad faith," Cooke wrote in her 54-page ruling. Cooke wrote that she would publish the order (PDF) for maximum deterrence, and, pointing specifically to Klar and Pham, also referred the matter to the Nevada and California state bars. The magistrate gave the firm and lawyers until Friday to object to the district court and stayed her order in the meantime. Her ruling was one of at least two last week referred to the California State Bar by judges: Los Angeles-based Irell & Manella was criticized in a Central District ruling Wednesday.

Full post as published by The Trade Secrets Vault on April 10, 2009 (boomark / email).