What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY
There is a provision in NY's civil practice/court rules for an award (payment) to the opposing side for frivolous conduct during a litigation. My question is: Is there any other scenario where a litigant could make a claim against the opposing law firm for refund of some of its legal fees because of how the opposing side handled the case? The disciplinary committee told me they don't make monetary awards and the Lawyers Fund is n/a to examples below.
Example case: suppose the court ordered the opposing law firm to produce documents. Instead of simply producing them, the law firm obstructed in every way possible including demanding that the plaintiff obtain another order because they said that the word "or" should have been "and" and when the plaintiff did obtain another order at considerable expense, the opposing law firm appealed the order and in the meantime documents that could have been produced were purged due to routine records maintenance.
Another example: suppose a plaintiff sues a defendant for taking $20,000 of plaintiff's property. Defendant could have returned the property or otherwise resolved the dispute but hires lawyers instead. The case never gets to the merits due to a combination of legal tactics by defendant's law firm in order to block discovery which would require appeals to attempt to overcome. There are dubious counterclaims which would probably not fool a judge but defendant's law firm asks for a jury trial and a clever lawyer might convince a jury who doesn't know the law involved. Plaintiff is pro se (another reason not to face off against a lawyer before a jury). So considering plaintiff's risks and defendant's legal fees, the parties decide it is better to end the case and abandon all claims and counterclaims. In this case both parties lost money which ultimately went to defendant's law firm as the only winner. Is there any basis here for plaintiff to make a claim against defendant's law firm even if only for filing fees? Thanks.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
There is a provision in NY's civil practice/court rules for an award (payment) to the opposing side for frivolous conduct during a litigation. My question is: Is there any other scenario where a litigant could make a claim against the opposing law firm for refund of some of its legal fees because of how the opposing side handled the case? The disciplinary committee told me they don't make monetary awards and the Lawyers Fund is n/a to examples below.
Example case: suppose the court ordered the opposing law firm to produce documents. Instead of simply producing them, the law firm obstructed in every way possible including demanding that the plaintiff obtain another order because they said that the word "or" should have been "and" and when the plaintiff did obtain another order at considerable expense, the opposing law firm appealed the order and in the meantime documents that could have been produced were purged due to routine records maintenance.
Another example: suppose a plaintiff sues a defendant for taking $20,000 of plaintiff's property. Defendant could have returned the property or otherwise resolved the dispute but hires lawyers instead. The case never gets to the merits due to a combination of legal tactics by defendant's law firm in order to block discovery which would require appeals to attempt to overcome. There are dubious counterclaims which would probably not fool a judge but defendant's law firm asks for a jury trial and a clever lawyer might convince a jury who doesn't know the law involved. Plaintiff is pro se (another reason not to face off against a lawyer before a jury). So considering plaintiff's risks and defendant's legal fees, the parties decide it is better to end the case and abandon all claims and counterclaims. In this case both parties lost money which ultimately went to defendant's law firm as the only winner. Is there any basis here for plaintiff to make a claim against defendant's law firm even if only for filing fees? Thanks.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?