Attorneys Sanctioned for Meritless Fee Request in Antitrust Suit

Counsel for defendants in an antitrust case must pay thousands of dollars as a sanction for filing a motion for attorneys’ fees without a legal or factual basis, a federal court in North Carolina ruled.

Attorneys Steven W. Shaw in Mapleton, Utah, and John David Matheny II in Mooresville, N.C., filed the motion on behalf of two separate groups of defendants five months after a jury ruled for the plaintiffs, who alleged their homes were bought at foreclosure in a bid-rigging scheme.

The attorneys sought fees for time spent on limited aspects of the case where they claimed their clients ...