11th Circuit Upholds $387K Sanction of Small Firm for Persisting in Case After Bad Client Depo
A divided federal appeals court panel has upheld a sanction of $387,738 against two South Florida attorneys.
After their client contradicted herself repeatedly during an eight-day deposition in a sexual harassment case, Bill and Karen Amlong should have ended the litigation, held the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel by a 2-1 vote, the Daily Business Review reported. The article is reprinted in New York Lawyer (reg. req.).
Instead, the Amlongs, who operate a husband-and-wife firm in Fort Lauderdale, blamed a bad translation for what was said by their client, who is a Haitian immigrant, and submitted a 63-page errata sheet to correct conflicting statements, the article recounts.
Bill Amlong tells the legal publication they intend to appeal. “We are disappointed. We are tired. But we are not defeated,” he said in an e-mail.
The lawsuit at issue was filed in 1996 in federal district court in Miami.
