Clients and others sometimes ask me what “sanctions” are in the lawsuit business. This decision shows what the worst sanctions look like. In one of those frivolous election lawsuits filed late in 2020, the two lawyers have been sanctioned $180,000. U.S. District Magistrate Judge N. Reid Neureiter sanctioned two lawyers, Gary D. Fielder and Ernest John Walker. The Denber Judge ordered them to pay $50,000 to Facebook, $63,000 to Dominion Voting Systems and about $63,000 to a non-profit, Center for Tech and Civic Life, $5,000 to the state of Pennsylvania, and almost $5,000 to the state of Michigan. These amounts likely represent the attorney’s fees paid by those individual defendants in defending this frivolous lawsuit.

The two lawyers filed a class action lawsuit in December, 2020 claiming to represent American voters. The Magistrate Judge wrote a blistering opinion, finding that the lawyers sought to “manipulate gullible members of the public and foment public unrest.” The Judge labeled the lawsuit one large conspiracy theory. The lawsuit was used to manipulate a gullible public. The lawsuit had no experts or witnesses who could support their allegations of switched votes and government conspiracies.

Judge’s opinions will never castigate worse than this opinion. This is very strong language from a federal judge. As I have mentioned here before, most lawyers go through their entire career and never see a sanction. Now, these two lawyers have very large sanctions. See the Politico news report here for more information.