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Breezevale Limited v. Dickinson9/21/2000
("the conduct which would justify an award of bad faith attorneys' fees may be found either in the filing of a frivolous claim or in the manner in which a properly filed claim is subsequently litigated").
In fact, in Synanon Foundation, Inc. v. Bernstein, 503 A.2d 1254 (D.C.) (Synanon I), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 815 (1986), we specifically rejected the plaintiff's argument that its suit could not be dismissed for bad faith conduct during discovery until judgment was rendered, stating that the civil rules do not "subsume or abrogate" the trial court's "inherent power to dismiss an action when a party has willfully deceived the court and engaged in conduct utterly inconsistent with the orderly administration of justice." Id. at 1264 (citation omitted). It would not only contradict our previous decisions but ignore reality to suggest that only parties who have no valid claims whatsoever abuse the judicial process. The trial court has the inherent authority to police itself against those who would abuse its processes, regardless of the substantive merits of their underlying claims.
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment as a matter of law entered in favor of GDC is reversed, except as it pertains to the Nigeria claim; the entry of judgment as a matter of law on the Nigeria claim is affirmed; the order concerning sanctions for bad faith litigation and unpaid legal fees is vacated; and the case is remanded for further consideration of the motion for a new trial and for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
So ordered.
Schwelb, Associate Judge, concurring:
I concur in the judgment of the court and join Judge Steadman's opinion. The jury apparently found that although plaintiff Breezevale, through its officers and employees, fabricated offer letters and related documents in an attempt to deceive the court and to defraud Firestone, the plaintiff would probably have prevailed at trial in its suit against Firestone notwithstanding the forgeries and associated false testimony. To be sure, the fabrication of evidence could logically have infected Breezevale's case against Firestone in its entirety, and I agree with the trial judge that the plaintiff's chicanery would almost certainly have been exposed anyway even if Breezevale had found a way to postpone Ms. Paul's deposition. Nevertheless, GDC has not demonstrated that the award of damages to Breezevale was unreasonable, for the fabricated documents related solely to a single discrete part of the Firestone litigation, and the jury did not find them decisive even as to that part. Accordingly, although I agree with the trial judge's unfavorable assessment of Breezevale's conduct, I join Judge Steadman in concluding that Breezevale's case against GDC does not fail as a matter of law for lack of proof of the requisite causal link between GDC's negligence and Breezevale's damages. I write separately, however, to emphasize that nothing in the court's opinion should be read as countenancing the kind of litigation tactics revealed by this record, or as limiting the authority of the trial judge to sanction Breezevale's misconduct in conformity with correct legal principles.
"Our adversary system depends on a most jealous safeguarding of truth and candor." Jones v. Clinton, 36 F. Supp. 2d 1118, 1131 (E.D. Ark. 1999) (quoting United States v. Shaffer Equip. Co., 11 F.3d 450, 463 (4th Cir. 1993)). Lying to the court, or engaging in related deceptive practices, is "serious business." Medrano-Quiroz v. United States, 705 A.2d 642, 653 (D.C. 1997). "We [have] join Justice Kennedy in his rejection of the notion that one who violates his testimonial oath is no worse than the student who claims the dog ate hi
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