Ex-Lawyer Took Fifth, Couldn't Defend $2.4M Civil Case, Now Gets New Trial
A California judge abused his discretion by effectively denying a tax attorney who took the Fifth during discovery in a civil case brought by a former client the opportunity to present any defense at trial.
Hence, the state Court of Appeals threw out a jury verdict against the former attorney, Christopher Gruys, that included a $2.4 million punitive damages award and held that he must get a new trial, according to the Metropolitan News-Enterprise.
Although the Los Angeles Superior Court can impose discovery sanctions on Gruys on remand for asserting his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, the sanctions must be appropriately tailored to balance the rights of the parties, the court explained yesterday in its written opinion.
The California Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act case concerned $7.5 million of an approximately $39 million tax shelter that Gruys helped his then-client set up.
Gruys resigned from the state bar in 2007, the article says.
