Crowell & Moring Partner’s Overzealous Tactics Justified Sanction, Court Says
A federal appeals court has upheld a sanction of more than $371,000 against Crowell & Moring partner Peter Ginsberg for “overzealous litigation tactics” and “inflammatory statements” made in the course of a recusal request.
The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Ginsberg, a white-collar criminal defense lawyer, had sought the recusal of a bankruptcy judge in bad faith, the National Law Journal reports.
Ginsberg had represented an officer found liable for $8 million for receiving fraudulent transfers from a company in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the NLJ story says. After the liability finding, Ginsberg sought the recusal of the judge, citing a complaint that he had engaged in ex parte discussions with the lawyer for the bankrupt company in a related case.
The 11th Circuit affirmed the monetary penalty and a sanction that barred Ginsberg from practicing for five years in the Florida bankruptcy court where he sought the judge’s recusal. The court said Ginsberg did not engage in reasonable fact-finding before making allegations of improper conduct by the judge, and the lawyer’s “dogged pursuit of a frivolous claim” indicated bad faith.
“The bankruptcy court was fully justified in finding that the recusal motion was filed and litigated as ‘an offensive litigation strategy’ ” that included an attempt to delay involuntary bankruptcy proceedings against his client, the court said.
Further, Ginsberg was “extremely difficult to deal with and disrespectful to the court. He refused to answer the court’s questions, treated the court as an adversary and continually made inflammatory statements.”
“The bankruptcy court did not err in finding that Ginsberg’s overzealous litigation tactics, use of factual inaccuracies, and disrespectful behavior demonstrate bad faith,” the court said in the opinion (PDF).
Ginsberg told the NLJ he was disappointed in the decision. “We believe we properly represented our client against an abusive situation in the Florida court,” he told the legal newspaper.
