Photo by Jayel Aheram
“[The lawyers’] behavior, which is calculated only to doom the settlement in this matter, shocks the Court’s conscience.”
Sr. U.S. District Court Judge Paul A. Magnuson (D. Minn.) showed his displeasure with lawyers who brought two lawsuits identical to the Dryer case when the Court had issued an injunction barring any such suits from being brought. (Go figure. Where hundreds of millions of dollars might be involved, folks just can’t seem to shut up.)
The lack of apposite legal authority means only that this kind of conduct has not happened frequently in the past. As officers of the Court, lawyers are expected to follow court orders, and given the dearth of caselaw discussing similar situations, it is apparent that most lawyers do so. The lawyers here, however, believe themselves not subject to such strictures.
Ouch.
(I do find it funny when a lawyer takes a position that is SO silly that there are scant (or no) cases addressing the silliness and the lawyer takes the position that his position is legitimate, as shown by the dearth of case law to the contrary. (Unless that lawyer is me. Then, I am serious and it is not funny.))