Making Faces In Courtroom, Which Were Found Not To Be Made In Bad Faith, Was Not Sanctionable.
Alice S. Kandell, photographer. May 1971. Library of Congress.
The Ninth Circuit, in Hernandez (Boothe) v. City of Vancouver, No. 13-35131 (9th Cir. Aug. 9, 2016) (unpublished), reviewed a $145,765.43 sanctions award against a plaintiff’s attorney winning an eventual $1.284 million employment discrimination award for his client. The sanctions were based on the attorney making faces in the courtroom during a trial (which led to a mistrial) and purported “witness coaching” of City’s in-house counsel in a hallway conference. The appeals court concluded the “making faces” sanction was infirm because the district judge found the conduct was not done in bad faith. The “witness coaching” sanction was reversed and remanded to consider factors presented by the attorney on appeal as to why this too was erroneous.
Defendant In Led Zeppelin Copyright Infringement Case Denied Attorney’s Fees In $793,000 Request Against Losing Plaintiff.
Defendant prevailed in a copyright case brought by the Wolfe Trust, which alleged that Led Zeppelin had “lifted” the introduction to the classic hit “Stairway to Heaven” from a song written by the late Randy Wolfe of the Spirit band. The defense moved to recoup $793,000 in attorney’s fees based on the theory the case was frivolous. C.D. California District Judge Klausner disagreed, find that the case was not frivolous (after all, it went to trial) and nothing showed that the plaintiff harbored “nefarious motives.”