Delware Court Sanctions Kramer Levin, the ABA Journal Reports

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Home (/) / Daily News (/news/) / Lawyer's repeated instructions to not answer…
LEGAL ETHICS
Lawyer's repeated instructions to not answer
deposition questions draws sanction for
Kramer Levin
POSTED AUG 18, 2015 05:45 AM CDT
BY DEBRA CASSENS WEISS (HTTP://WWW.ABAJOURNAL.COM/AUTHORS/4/)
Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel will have to
pay attorney fees covering an opponent’s
deposition costs because one of its lawyers
repeatedly instructed a witness not to answer
questions.
Delaware’s chancery court imposed the
sanction in an Aug. 14 letter opinion, the Legal
Profession Blog
(http://lawprofessors.typepad.com
/legal_profession/2015/08/the-delaware-
chancery-court-recently-issued-a-letter-opinion-
dealing-with-allegations-of-deposition-
misconduct.html) reports. According to the
opinion, Kramer Levin lawyer Philip Kaufman
instructed the Feb. 6 deposition witness
—another Kramer Levin lawyer—not to answer
75 questions.
Law360 (http://www.law360.com/articles
/691571/chancery-sanctions-kramer-levin-
in-transperfect-case) (sub. req.) says the
litigation involved a “highly tumultuous business
divorce” between co-CEOs of a translation
services company. One of the CEOs, Philip
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Shawe, had sought to disqualify Kramer Levin
lawyer Ronald Greenberg from representing the
other CEO, saying Greenberg has been a
central figure in past disputes, according to this prior Law360 story
(http://www.law360.com/articles/621934/kramer-levin-atty-should-be-dq-d-in-ceo-
row-court-told). Kaufman was representing Greenberg in the deposition.
The opinion by Chancellor Andre Bouchard said Kaufman objected to many
questions that “were benign and did not implicate any privilege.” The opinion
listed many examples, including these:
Q. And in that e-mail you called Mr. Shawe’s e-mails foolish. Correct?
Mr. Kaufman: Direction not to answer. He is not going to characterize his communications. They
say what they say… .
Q. Mr. Greenberg, did you have oral communications with ADP regarding TransPerfect in the
period March and April and May 2014?
Mr. Kaufman: Direction not to answer. …
Q. Who is Mr. Gerber?
Mr. Kaufman: Direction not to answer. …
“The litigation of these actions has been a heated affair to be sure, but that does not excuse
unprofessional conduct,” Bouchard wrote. “Mr. Kaufman’s defense of this deposition crossed the
line between zealous advocacy and unprofessional conduct, and frustrated the fair examination of
Mr. Greenberg.”
Bouchard said he was sanctioning Kramer Levin but not Kaufman because he was acting primarily
as counsel for the witness during the deposition.
Neither Kaufman nor a spokesperson for Kramer Levin immediately responded to a request for
comment.
Extra word in headline removed at 7:15 p.m.
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We welcome your comments, but please adhere to our comment policy (/commentpolicy/). Flag
comment for moderator. (/report_abuse/)
Comments
Elbow Bender said:
Some Judges will-some Judges won't! Whatta ya goinna do? In most jurisdictions you can
call the Judge for an immediate ruling-provided he/she is not in trial etc. Calling the Judge
usually puts a stop to the continuation of this kind of behavior.
Posted: Aug 21, 2015 03:06 am CDT
| Flag this comment for moderation (http://www.abajournal.com/report_abuse/?comment_id=413612)
Wouldn't You Like To Know said:
That's why I like South Carolina's rules. Basically, unless it's privileged, all you can do is
object, but the deponent still has to answer even if an objection is raised.
B. McLeod said:
That's how we do it too.
Dave the Family Lawyer said:
NY recently adopted the same rule. The problem is that someones an attorney can use the
new rules to badger a deponent. For example, I had a case, which I inherited, where
opposing counsel in a pretty normal divorce had my (now) client in depositions for more
than 3 days. NY rules regarding what is and what is not relevant to discovery are very clear
in a divorce. Once gets wide berth and complete disclosure regarding finances, but no
discovery for anything else like grounds. There is no excuse for keeping someone on a
depo for 3 days in this kind of situation.
Divorce Lawyer
Divorce Law Firm in
Brooklyn NY. 30 Years of
Experience. Call Today.
3 of 5 9/7/15, 12:30 PM

In those types of situations I simply walk out of the depo. Let them bring the judge into it. I
have only done it once and I have only done it when the depo was being used to abuse.
The other side decided to try to move the court for preclusion. I fired back with a cross
motion for a protective order and included the transcript. The court saw it my way.
atlaw said:
3 days? Ouch. In Illinois, you get 3 hours to complete a depo. If you want more time than
that, you have to get leave from a judge.
Posted: Aug 21, 2015 12:31 pm CDT
Old Lawyer said:
A lawyer who represents him/herself has a fool for a client. The same can be said for a law
firm that represents itself or a member of the firm.
McD said:
"A lawyer who represents him/herself has a fool for a client."
Ahhh Yesss... But at least an Honest Fool who will not Betray the Client for any number of
reasons - particularly Political Correctness related Fear of Retaliation and career
destruction by the forces of 'tolerance'. Ahem
As one of those on the "Lavender Liberal Stalkers List" for having donated a small sum to
Protect Marriage (CA Proposition 8 - Still in the CA Constitution) - I remain a Target and
professionally toxic to any lawyer who dares to defend me, even in the most ludicrous of
partisan political scams. SEE 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Cv 14-35022 McDermott v.
Blank (Census 2010) for details of DOJ Dirty Tricks et al.
loganbacon said:
In DC, the judges don't want to be bothered with discovery disputes. So while yes, the rule is
that you are supposed to object and the witness is supposed to answer anyway, that is rarely
the reality, and sanctions are almost never granted. It's frustrating as hell, and I'm glad I am
retired and don't have to deal with it anymore.
Commenting is not available in this channel entry.
4 of 5 9/7/15, 12:30 PM

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Delware Court Sanctions Kramer Levin, the ABA Journal Reports

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