No Sanctions for Ex-Big Law Attorney Accused of ‘Butt Shaking’

A Texas lawyer who allegedly shook his rear at opposing counsel and directed obscene comments toward him during a mediation won’t be sanctioned for his acts.

“One of the sentences a judge does not imagine—much less welcome—writing includes the words ‘butt shaking’ in describing a lawyer’s alleged actions at a mediation,” Judge Lee H. Rosenthal of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas wrote May 4. “Sadly, those words fit here.”

But there’s “significant disagreement” about what happened, the judge said. And even though attorney Dennis P. Duffy’s behavior was “clearly outside professional bounds, neither counsel was ...