Attorney Sanctions for Filing Brief Four Days Late Reversed on Appeal

Several attorneys should not have been ordered to pay their adversaries’ legal fees and costs as a sanction for filing opposition papers four days late, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled Dec. 26 (Wilson v. Citigroup, 2d Cir., No. 11-5085).

In a per curiam opinion, the appeals court said the district court abused its discretion and that sanctions were unwarranted, given the absence of any indication that the attorneys had acted in bad faith. Even if there had been a valid reason for the sanctions, the court said it still would have reversed the ...