“‘Greedy’ Stanford Law Grad Must Pay $630K in Legal Fees Over Meritless Art Suit”

As the Blog of Legal Times and ABA Journal note, the D.C. Circuit has upheld an order that Washington, D.C. art dealer and attorney Robert Fastov pay more than $630,000 to compensate Christie’s, the auction house, for meritless litigation aimed at extracting a settlement on an untenable claim. In a summary judgment order last year, the trial judge cited Fastov’s “well-documented proclivity in this case to engage in obstructionist litigation tactics” and ordered him to pay fees: “a greedy individual, with the advantage of a legal education and a claimed litigation experience, has initiated and maintained this lawsuit, which anyone with a modicum of common sense would have realized was without merit.”

2 Comments

  • “a greedy individual, with the advantage of a legal education and a claimed litigation experience, has initiated and maintained this lawsuit, which anyone with a modicum of common sense would have realized was without merit.”

    —So if it was merit-less then wasn’t the auction house at fault in agreeing to settle?

  • “—So if it was merit-less then wasn’t the auction house at fault in agreeing to settle?”

    They didn’t settle. He tried to extort a settlement and they called his bluff.