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Court slaps sanctions on atty who sued gun maker
armsandthelaw.com ^ | 26 November, 2012 | David Hardy

Posted on 11/27/2012 7:23:24 AM PST by marktwain

It's a 34 page scanned pdf, so it is both detailed and slow to download. Reading the earliest versions of what happened, or was alleged to have happened, I find them incomprehensible. Bullets coming out of the trigger guard or the side of the gun? Then he changes to an out-of-battery discharge, but even that doesn't hold up.

The judge doesn't fix a number, but orders the defense to file its documents on attorney fees (with a hint that they shouldn't be tempted to pad things out). I suspect this will be a VERY expensive mistake.

Comment by James:

Reading through the whole case, I'm not a lawyer, but the judges repeatedly note that the lawyer being sanctioned not only failed to do due diligence about investigating whether a failure of the type he described was possible, but he continued to pursue that claim after it was fairly solidly refuted by the defendant's expert witnesses, and even undermined his own expert witnesses by failing to provide them with adequate explanations of what was claimed to have happened or of what the defendant's proposed might have happened (namely, that the physical damage to the pistol was consistent with the damage done by shooting a pistol with another gun, with the pictures submitted by the defendants matching the actual evidence gun so closely that the plaintiff's expert witness thought they were just pictures of it).

The medical evidence would also support this theory, since the wound was a through-and-through injury with no mention of stippling or fragments of bullet or case, as would normally be expected in an out-of-battery discharge or close range self-inflicted gunshot. That the plaintiff's lawyer didn't even refer to an expert witness on gunshot wounds to determine whether his client's story matched the evidence would just be further evidence that he failed to exercise due diligence under Rule 11 in his filings.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: banglist; court; liability; manufacturer
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There is a link to the 34 page pdf at the site.
1 posted on 11/27/2012 7:23:30 AM PST by marktwain
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To: marktwain

THIS is tort reform.

this lawyer has to PERSONALLY pay the sanction,


2 posted on 11/27/2012 7:31:51 AM PST by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: marktwain

This is what happened ot the case where the lawyer claimed rounds popped out through the trigger guard?
I was wondering.


3 posted on 11/27/2012 7:35:25 AM PST by Darksheare (Try my coffee, first one's free.....)
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To: archy

Archy, you got a pinglist handy?
If so, ping the crew.
If my memory is correct, and it sometimes isn’t, this is the case where the lawyer claimed rounds came out through the trigger guard?


4 posted on 11/27/2012 7:37:24 AM PST by Darksheare (Try my coffee, first one's free.....)
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To: marktwain

Interesting now that I have glanced at the suit.

1. This is federal so this is rule 11 sanctions WHICH CAN EXTEND TO THE WHOLE FIRM (if there is one)

2. The court found this to be a fishing expedition and not a real case.

3. Rule 11 sanctions are intended to stop hail mary passes regardless of whether they score in order to force proper investigation BEFORE filing suit.

4. The court concludes that the sanctions are in fact against the lawyer and the firm directly.

The theory of the case appeared to be “all guns are bad” and that was all of the pre-filing investigation. It must have been some form of harassment suit that the lawyer thought they could intimidate into settlement.

I wonder if this was some kind of leftist crusading firm. BTW sanctions can go over and above the fees, the judge could reject any kind of settlement with the defendant over sanctions. Given his conduct I suspect the lawyer will try and use the “we will appeal” bs to intimidate the defendants.

We hope this will have a chilling effect on such tangent anti-second amendment efforts.


5 posted on 11/27/2012 7:45:10 AM PST by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: longtermmemmory; All
THIS is tort reform.
this lawyer has to PERSONALLY pay the sanction..
I like it..now when plaintiff pays for their frivolous actions...

6 posted on 11/27/2012 7:49:33 AM PST by skinkinthegrass (Anger a Conservative by telling a lie; Anger a Liberal by telling the truth....RWR 8-)
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To: longtermmemmory; All
IOW...WATCH OUT ACLU & SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER!
JOY! JOY! 8-D

7 posted on 11/27/2012 8:01:16 AM PST by skinkinthegrass (Anger a Conservative by telling a lie; Anger a Liberal by telling the truth....RWR 8-)
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To: skinkinthegrass

The lawyer should never have taken the case.

from the court’s conclusion:

“In light ofthe above, the Court finds that this case was “a shot in the dark” and unfortunately for Counsel, he not only missed his mark, his gun was not even loaded.32 The Court finds that monetary sanctions are warranted against Counsel and his law firm....”

the footnote: “32 The Court finds absolutely no merit in Counsel’s contention that sanctions are warranted against Defendants and therefore his reciprocal request for sanctions is denied. See Sur-Reply Brief to Motion for Sanctions (Doc. No. 66 at 9).”

Plaintiff can just file bankruptcy and be done. When a lawyer is sanctioned like this it generally has to be reported to the bar for investigation and FURTHER sanctions.

What we really need is to start closing down the diploma mill law schools. Which are diploma mills? ALL of them. If we just close 1/2 of law schools and purge the leftist professors it will be a good reform.


8 posted on 11/27/2012 8:01:26 AM PST by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: skinkinthegrass

no it means they will have better BS to justify their case. Better pretrial investigation.

Now if the lawyer has their licensed yanked, it will mean those groups will have fewer lawyers.

To stop those groups we need to stop “temporary” permissions of lawyers to operate in states in which they are unlicensed.


9 posted on 11/27/2012 8:08:23 AM PST by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: longtermmemmory
Which are diploma mills? ALL of them.
true...(IIRC) back in the 1990s; Just the Washington D.C. Metro....
Area had more lawyers than the whole nation of Japan

10 posted on 11/27/2012 8:11:17 AM PST by skinkinthegrass (Anger a Conservative by telling a lie; Anger a Liberal by telling the truth....RWR 8-)
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To: longtermmemmory
To stop those groups we need to stop “temporary” permissions of lawyers to operate in states in which they are unlicensed

Sanctions also apply to the sponsoring attorney who is licensed in the state.

11 posted on 11/27/2012 8:12:25 AM PST by Dan(9698)
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To: longtermmemmory; All
OK...my main point; was that the USA citizens, shouldn't be paying for these actions
(directly or on directly) thru higher $$$$ of products and services..and taxes.

12 posted on 11/27/2012 8:20:36 AM PST by skinkinthegrass (Anger a Conservative by telling a lie; Anger a Liberal by telling the truth....RWR 8-)
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To: longtermmemmory; All
(directly or on directly) = (directly or indirectly)
sorry, too little coffee.
13 posted on 11/27/2012 8:23:59 AM PST by skinkinthegrass (Anger a Conservative by telling a lie; Anger a Liberal by telling the truth....RWR 8-)
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To: longtermmemmory

Just imagine, this has been going on for at least FIVE YEARS! It is a travesty that the court allowed this ambulance chaser and his “Plaintiffs” all this time to screw around with the so-called “legal system.” I hope the Defendants go after both the Plaintiffs and their “lawyer” for substantial damages. This is even worse that the product liability lawsuits on GA aircraft that were flown into mountainsides by idiots whose heirs thought that the planes were “defective.”


14 posted on 11/27/2012 9:45:42 AM PST by vette6387
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To: marktwain

I would like to see the photographs.


15 posted on 11/27/2012 11:33:25 AM PST by SWAMPSNIPER (The Second Amendment,a Matter of Fact,Not a Matter of Opinion)
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To: Darksheare; Eaker; afnamvet; AK2KX; Ancesthntr; An Old Man; APatientMan; ApesForEvolution; ...
Archy, you got a pinglist handy? If so, ping the crew.

On the way!

If my memory is correct, and it sometimes isn’t, this is the case where the lawyer claimed rounds came out through the trigger guard?

I'm not certain. But I'll nose around.

16 posted on 12/04/2012 5:40:25 PM PST by archy
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To: Darksheare; Eaker; afnamvet; AK2KX; Ancesthntr; An Old Man; APatientMan; ApesForEvolution; ...
Archy, you got a pinglist handy? If so, ping the crew.

On the way!

If my memory is correct, and it sometimes isn’t, this is the case where the lawyer claimed rounds came out through the trigger guard?

I'm not certain. But I'll nose around.

17 posted on 12/04/2012 5:41:23 PM PST by archy
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To: archy

Malicious prosecution needs to carry a financial penalty. Either via fines or incarceration...


18 posted on 12/04/2012 6:27:22 PM PST by Dead Corpse (I will not comply.)
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To: Dead Corpse
Either via fines or incarceration...

For these lawyers I prefer incarceration as a fine doesn't hurt as much as one's wedding night in prison.

19 posted on 12/04/2012 6:56:53 PM PST by Eaker ( If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles.)
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To: archy

Thanks for the triple ping. My guess is that you just clicked once.


20 posted on 12/04/2012 7:30:18 PM PST by neverdem ( Xin loi min oi)
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