McDermott’s Shared Tab for ‘Abuse of Advocacy’ is $4.3M in Attorney Fees

jim
Oct 3, 2008 6:02 AM CST

And then you go up on appeal and the Federal Circuit tells you that you didn’t put enough evidence in the record at trial supporting infringement (or invalidity, as the case may be) when it flips the district court’s erroneous claim construction.  You’re hosed either way.

Flag this comment

RL
Oct 3, 2008 7:12 AM CST

Monetary sanctions do not go far enough.  Medtronic has a pattern of doing this, and it is clear that they are making it financially worthwhile for their lawyers to do it as well.  The $4.3 million in sanctions is probably a drop in the bucket compared to the fees the law firms are generating and, especially, compared to the successful verdicts that Medtronic can expect if its lawyers are willing to skirt the rules. 

This series of cases shows that lawyers will only take their obligations seriously if their licenses are on the line as well.  Let’s disbar a few MWE partners and see how that impacts attorney behavior.

Flag this comment

Michelle
Oct 3, 2008 10:09 AM CST

I concur with Andy the Lawyer.  Please stop referring to your boyfriend in your otherwise insightful comments.  I understand that you are frequent and respected commentator here at the ABA Journal, but please what relevance is your opinion of your boyfriend’s alleged opinion with respect to Rule 11?

Flag this comment

Heather
Oct 3, 2008 11:32 AM CST

Irresponsible litigators deserve this type of sanction, so long as its not a slippery slope.  In this case, the attorneys and their clients were clearly abusing the system making these type of sanctions appropriate.  This is exactly the behavior that gives attorneys a bad name.  Attorneys must, however, be able to zealously represent their clients based on legitimate ligitation strategies and theories without fear of sanctions if the judge just so happens to disagree with their approach.  So long as there is a legitimate good faith basis for advocacy, it should be allowed.  But any attorney who manufactures a case, no matter how much their client is paying them, is a blight on the profession. 
Ellen, I don’t know what you’ve done to elevate yourself to being a “frequent and respected commentator,” but it is clear to me that you have too much time on your hands to be litigating well.  Moreover, you seem inexplicably drawn to the Caps Lock button.  While your continued interest in current events is admirable, I don’t understand how it is you have the experience to make such observations when you seem to spend a significant amount of your time blawging.  Perhaps your commentary would be better received if it was a little more focused on specific articles of interest to you where you personally have insight and experience.  Just a suggestion.

Flag this comment

Woodside Bob
Oct 7, 2008 3:38 PM CST

To 5 through 9, I don’t believe Ellen is real.  The question is, who is Elen?  My personal theory is that Debra acts as Ellen regarding postings by Martha, and Martha gets to be Ellen on postings by Debra.  Just to get things going.  There’s not much more lonesome than a post with no comments.

Flag this comment