Law360 profiles a win by Bailey & Glasser, LLP before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. The article, “‘Sandbagging’ Sinks Disbarred Atty’s Appeal Of Sanctions” details the case and appeal, which affirmed an $828,000 default judgment as sanctions against a disbarred attorney-turned-telemarketing defendant and his cohorts who concealed key discovery and disobeyed court orders.
Bailey Glasser partner Sharon Iskra originally filed the lawsuit on behalf of Diana Mey in 2019 in the Northern District of West Virginia after Ms. Mey received a flood of unwanted telemarketing phone calls concerning debt relief. The suit alleged violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act (WVCCPA) for illegally contacting Ms. Mey despite her registration on the national “Do Not Call” phone list and her repeated requests that the calls stop.
During the three years of ensuing litigation, Iskra uncovered that the defendants not only evaded discovery concerning their joint enterprise but had actively concealed over 15 shared companies, some of which had been formed while discovery was in progress. The district court agreed that the defendants had engaged in a “pattern of concealing discoverable material” and repeatedly balked at orders, resulting in the court sanctioning them with the default judgment in April 2022.
Bailey Glasser attorney Benjamin Hogan skillfully defended the award before the Fourth Circuit. In a unanimous, published opinion, the three-judge panel affirmed default judgment as an appropriate sanction for Defendants’ “relentless sandbagging and failure to disclose discoverable materials.”
Read the full Law360 article here, and to learn more about this case and read the opinion visit our website.