“A federal appeals court has revived an abuse of process suit against a law firm and lawyer that allegedly used unfair tactics in litigation — including hiding documents, obstructing discovery and fabricating privilege claims — after finding that a lower court improperly determined that such conduct was immune from suit under the doctrine of judicial privilege.” A Philadelphia judge had found that insurer Fireman’s Fund and its Washington, D.C.-based law firm, Gilberg & Kiernan, had committed extensive misconduct in defending asbestos coverage claims brought by policyholder General Refractories Corp. GRC proceeded to file an abuse of process action against the insurer and its law firm, but a federal judge ruled that lawyers enjoy near-absolute immunity from abuse of process claims when engaged in litigation, under a privilege for “judicial communications”. Not so, said an appeals court, which construed the privilege more narrowly and reinstated the suit: it would frustrate the purpose of rules against abuse of process to let lawyers exempt themselves so sweepingly from liability for such abuse. (Shannon P. Duffy, “Suit Over Litigation Tactics Revived”, The Legal Intelligencer, Jul. 30)(via Legal Reader).
Abuse of process claim revived
“A federal appeals court has revived an abuse of process suit against a law firm and lawyer that allegedly used unfair tactics in litigation — including hiding documents, obstructing discovery and fabricating privilege claims — after finding that a lower court improperly determined that such conduct was immune from suit under the doctrine of judicial […]
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