EAST ST. LOUIS – Chief U.S. District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel ordered copyright lawyer Richard Liebowitz of New York to pay her clerk $10,000 for creating frivolous work.
In an order she entered on May 7, she called Liebowitz a “legal lamprey.”
She ordered him to pay another $10,000 to his opponent attorney Dan Booth, but she trimmed Booth’s fee request by more than half.
She found the persistent confusion in the case wasn’t solely Liebowitz’s fault.
“The court does not wish to encourage personal disputes between individual attorneys that extend across multiple representations, and in this context it is logical to look with some extra skepticism on Dan Booth’s motivations in pursuing this representation and his estimates of his fees,” Rosenstengel wrote.
Booth practices law in Concord, Mass; Liebowitz practices in Valley Stream, New York.
Liebowitz sued Chicago music magazine Consequence for New York photographer Jesse Ward in 2018, claiming it used Ward’s work without permission.
Consequence founder Alex Young contacted Liebowitz, conceded he lacked authority, and offered to pay Ward’s standard rate.
They agreed to extend the response deadline but didn’t move for an extension.
Young wrote to Liebowitz arguing the Southern Illinois court was improper, and Liebowitz didn’t respond.
Rosenstengel, unaware of the communications, threatened to dismiss for lack of prosecution if Ward didn’t provide notice of proper service.
He did, and she threatened to dismiss if he didn’t move for default judgment. He did, but he failed to provide notice of default to defendant’s last known address.
Consequence became aware of the default in July 2019, and retained Booth.
He moved to set aside the default due to failure of notice and improper venue.
Rosenstengel set aside the default, and Booth moved for an order dismissing the suit and awarding fees.
Booth claimed he notified Liebowitz that venue was inappropriate in this action in October 2018, while representing a client in a different action.
He claimed Liebowitz sued three other Chicago entities in Southern Illinois, and accused Liebowitz of avoiding Northern Illinois rules requiring appointment of local counsel and posting bond.
He presented numerous motions for sanctions on Liebowitz and criticisms from federal judges for bringing claims that didn’t result in substantial litigation.
Booth sought fees for 49.5 hours at $425 an hour, totaling $21,037.50.
Ward filed for voluntary dismissal, and Rosenstengel granted it.
Liebowitz opposed sanctions, and Rosenstengel found he harmed Consequence, the court, and even his own client who lost an opportunity to advance a claim.
“It is a simple matter for the court to conclude that Liebowitz’s conduct in this case has been irresponsible, unreasonable, and detrimental to the fair administration of justice,” Rosenstengel wrote.
She concluded that he likely filed the action in bad faith to harass Consequence.
“While the undersigned is generally inclined to give attorneys the benefit of the doubt, based on the sheer volume of cases that Liebowitz has filed, the court feels that he should know better by now,” she wrote.
She wrote that she wasn’t inclined to forget the larger picture.
“Misuse of intellectual property has become a pervasive problem in the internet era and one that is especially pernicious for freelance photographers like Ward, who often lack the resources to pursue claims in court against organizations like Consequence, knowing that even if successful they may receive mere token payments of a few hundred dollars for their work, far less than their legal fees,” she wrote.
She wrote that attorneys such as Liebowitz represent “the fetid backwash of persistent and willful disregard for intellectual property norms.”
Finding she wasn’t overly sympathetic to Consequence’s plea to be made whole, she awarded $10,000 as a reasonable amount.
“The court hopes that Consequence’s remaining uncompensated financial expenditure and the experience of wrangling with legal lampreys such as Liebowitz will serve to ensure that Consequence in the future exercises the merest modicum of caution necessary to avoid misusing the intellectual property of others.”