Lawyer Hopes F-Word Means 'Forgiven,' Asks Court to Lift Sanctions

The lawyer who was hit with sanctions for failing to rein in a foul-mouthed client is now asking a federal judge for permission to drop the client and begging for the sanctions imposed on him to be lifted.

The Feb. 29 decision by U.S. District Judge Eduardo C. Robreno in GMAC Bank v. HTFC Corp. imposed sanctions of more than $29,000 on attorney Joseph R. Ziccardi of Chicago and his client, Aaron Wider, whose alleged misconduct included dropping 73 "F-bombs" during his deposition. The ruling created a sensation in the blogosphere as a slew of commentators linked to the decision as the latest example of a litigant gone wild.

Robreno found that Wider, the chief executive officer of HTFC, engaged in "hostile, uncivil, and vulgar conduct, which persisted throughout the nearly 12 hours of deposition testimony."

Wider used the word "fuck" or variations of it 73 times during the deposition, Robreno noted, and the video shows that his lawyer at one point "snickered" at his client's conduct.

Details here from The Legal Intelligencer via Law.com.

Comments

[Bonnie]

...and the beat goes on. Perhaps the guy could also apply for the Dan Broderick Award.

In the category of you can't make this stuff up...

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/financial-crime-politics/2008/may/13/was-dan-broderick-really-a-model-of-integrity/

[Deutsche Versicherung]

I can get the lot of legal intelligener information in this site. Variations of it 73 times during the deposition, Robreno noted, and the video shows that his lawyer at one point.