Brewer v. Lennox Hearth Products, LLC (Opinion)
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In this products-liability and wrongful-death suit, the Supreme Court vacated the order of the trial court sanctioning an attorney for commissioning a pretrial survey that commenced in the county of suit shortly before trial, holding that the sanctions order, issued under the court's inherent authority, could not stand because evidence of bad faith was lacking.
After a hearing, the trial court imposed sanctions against the attorney that commissioned the pretrial survey, ordering the attorney to complete ten hours of legal ethics education and pay the movants $133,415 in attorneys fees and expenses. The court did not find that the attorney violated any disciplinary rules or other applicable authority, instead concluding that the attorney's conduct was intentional, in bad faith, and an abuse of the legal system and the judicial process. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) the attorney's attitude and intermittent obstinance at the sanctions hearing likely taxed the trial court's patience but did not itself justify the imposition of sanctions; and (2) the attorney's errors in commissioning and executing the survey did not constitute bad faith.
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