You may recall the entertainingly stupid lawsuit filed by Michael J. Zwebner and his penny-stock holding company Universal Communication Systems against CNN and Wolf Blitzer (Feb. 17). No surprise, Rule 11 sanctions were granted—the judge found that each of the three independent reasons for granting sanctions under Rule 11 applied to this case. Zwebner’s attorney, John H. Faro, demonstrates his uncertain grasp of the law by continuing to blizzard the court with papers, including filing a premature appeal purporting to divest the district court of jurisdiction and fundamentally misunderstanding the concept of “bad faith” litigation by arguing that the Rule 11 sanctions were inappropriate because the lawsuit was filed for “tactical” (!) purposes. One hopes that the court awards fees over the collateral litigation tactics so that the defendants are not worse off for having sought Rule 11 sanctions. One further hopes that the Florida Bar steps into protect other defendants and clients from Faro. A similar lawsuit brought by Zwebner and Faro against Lycos appears to have been dismissed this week; the same message board has fun discussing these and other Zwebner lawsuits. See also Mar. 12.

Filed under: loser pays