INSURED SANCTIONED UNDER 28 U.S.C. § 1927 FOR “ACTING IN BAD FAITH BY PERPETUATING A NONSENSICAL LAWSUIT AGAINST THE INSURER AT EVERY TURN”
The court earlier found the insured, an attorney, prosecuted her suit against the carrier in bad faith. This case addressed sanctions against the insured and her one-time co-counsel under 28 U.S.C. § 1927, after finding Rule 11 inapplicable.
The Court had identified fifty-two filings evincing “an unreasonable and vexatious multiplication of the proceedings.” It ordered the insured and co-counsel “to pay the carrier’s reasonable excess costs, expenses and attorneys’ fees associated with those filings….”
The court found 217.3 hours of the insurer’s legal fees reasonable, totaling $39,114. The court, however, rejected the argument expert fees could be awarded under section 1927. It left open for a later date a request for court costs.
The court then looked at whether it should reduce the sanctions, after balancing the equities between the parties. The court found no basis to reduce the fee award, stating that the insured and her co-counsel “acted in bad faith by perpetuating a nonsensical lawsuit at every turn.” By contrast, the insurer handled itself with “professionalism”.
The court then looked at the respective equities as between the insured and her co-counsel in dividing their payment obligations. The court described the insured as “the ring master of this circus.” The court found: “She devised this suit ‘to try to con [the insurer] into paying for damage most likely caused by [her] own neglect of her properties.’”Moreover, the court found the insured’s “bad-faith conduct was borne of malice.”
On the other hand, the court observed: “To be sure, [co-counsel] willingly enabled [the insured’s] worst instincts, and he is neither as naïve nor as guiltless as he pretends to be.” However, counsel lacked the insured’s “malice, and his misconduct pales in comparison to [the insured’s].” The court also considered that co-counsel already had been disbarred for unrelated conduct, blunting the deterrent effect of present sanctions. By contrast, the court stated, the insured “will exploit her law license and continue abusing the civil justice system unless and until she is discouraged from doing so.”
For all of the court’s stated reasons, it required the insured to pay $35,000 and co-counsel to pay $4,114.
A motion to seal the insurer’s time record’s was denied without prejudice, as the insurer neither specified what documents should be placed under seal, nor provided the good cause basis for sealing any documents.
Date of Decision: December 17, 2019
Doherty v. Allstate Indem. Co., U. S. District Court Eastern District of Pennsylvania CIVIL ACTION NO. 15-05165, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 216253 (E.D. Pa. Dec. 17, 2019) (Pappert, J.)
Earlier Blog summaries concerning this case can be here (2016), and here (2017).
