Bloomberg Law
April 11, 2018, 5:09 PM UTC

Lawyer Sanctioned for Wasting Court’s Time on Moot Issue

Mindy L. Rattan
Mindy L. Rattan
Reporter/Editor

A lawyer who disbursed settlement funds without telling the court that doing so mooted a pending motion to garnish those funds was sanctioned by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida Apr. 9.

In defending his actions, plaintiffs’ lawyer Lawrence A. Caplan relied on his duty of confidentiality about his clients’ settlement. The court wasn’t persuaded and said he “completely ignore[d] his duty of professionalism and candor to the Court and opposing counsel.” Caplan wasted Brendel’s and the court’s time to prepare for and attend an unnecessary hearing, the court said.

Lawyers can’t use their duty of ...

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