THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS POST DESCRIBES LEGAL MATTERS HANDLED IN THE PAST BY OUR ATTORNEYS. OF COURSE, THE RESULTS WE HAVE ACHIEVED DEPEND UPON A VARIETY OF FACTORS UNIQUE TO EACH MATTER. BECAUSE EACH MATTER IS DIFFERENT, OUR PAST RESULTS CANNOT PREDICT OR GUARANTEE A SIMILAR RESULT IN THE FUTURE.

My colleague, Mikhael Charnoff, obtained a sanctions award in state court against an attorney and his client for failing to bring meritorious claims. On January 13, 2012, the Supreme Court of Virginia approved the $272,096 sanction against the client and his lawyer in a case ostensibly arising out of a real estate listing agreement. The ruling is important in many respects.

First, the sanction is financially significant no matter who you are. A lawyer’s insurance company will not likely pay the sanction whcih means it all comes out of pocket on top of the costs of the legal fees and costs already paid....