The moving party brought a motion under Rule 57.07 of the Rules of Civil Procedure seeking to hold opposing counsel personally liable for litigation costs allegedly caused by misconduct, including advancing false evidence, suppressing documents, and encouraging clients to give perjured testimony.
The court conducted a detailed review of the history of the litigation and the governing principles for imposing personal cost liability on counsel.
While the court found that counsel had made some serious litigation errors, including failing to properly list privileged documents in an affidavit of documents and mishandling document preservation, it held that the conduct did not cause costs to be incurred without reasonable cause within the meaning of Rule 57.07.
The court emphasized the adversarial nature of civil litigation, the extreme caution required before awarding costs personally against lawyers, and the availability of procedural remedies to address discovery issues.
The motion was dismissed.
