King v. Whitmer
CIVIL 20-13134 (E.D. Mich. Aug. 25, 2021)
not admitted in this jurisdiction is also subject to
the disciplinary authority of this jurisdiction if the
lawyer provides or offers to provide any legal
services in this jurisdiction.” (emphasis added).
By agreeing to place their names on pleadings
and/or motions, counsel are responsible for those
submissions and will be held accountable.15
15 Although the issue of whether non-signing
attorneys can be sanctioned is discussed in
this Rule 11 section, the Court concludes
for the same reasons that they can be
sanctioned under § 1927 and the Court's
inherent authority, as well. The same is true
for Wood, Newman, and Rohl, who are
discussed in the next subsections.
2. L. Lin Wood
At the July 12 hearing, Wood maintained that the
Court lacks jurisdiction to sanction him because
he played no role in drafting the Complaint, did
not read any of the documents with respect to the
Complaint, was not aware of the affidavits
attached to it, and did not give permission for his
name to be specifically included in this action.
When the Court asked Wood if he gave permission
to have his name included on the pleadings or
briefs, Wood answered:
I do not specifically recall being asked
about the Michigan complaint, but I had
generally indicated to Sidney Powell that if
she needed a, quote/unquote, trial lawyer
that I would certainly be willing and
available to help her.[16]
In this case obviously my name was
included. My experience or my skills
apparently were never needed so I didn't
have any involvement with it.
Would I have objected to be included by
name? I don't believe so ....
(ECF No. 157 at Pg ID 5360.) The Court then
asked Wood if he gave Powell permission to
include his name on the filings in this matter, to
which he responded:
I didn't object to it, but I did not know - I
actually did not know at the time that my
name was going to be included, but I
certainly told Ms. Powell in discussions
that I would help her if she needed me in
any of these cases, and in this particular
matter apparently I was never needed so I
didn't have anything to do with it.
(Id. at Pg ID 5360-61.)
[16] Wood, therefore, admittedly “
[16] Wood, therefore, admittedly “
Wood then denied being served with the motion
for sanctions and stated that he was present only at
the hearing because the Court required him to be
there. (Id.) According to Wood, he only
discovered that he had been included as counsel
for Plaintiffs in this matter when he saw a
newspaper article about the sanctions motion: “I
didn't receive any notice about this until I saw
something in the newspaper about being
sanctioned.” (Id. at Pg ID 5362, 5366 (emphasis
added).)
When the Court turned to Powell and asked
whether she told Wood his name was being placed
on the pleading, Powell first answered:
My view, your honor, is that I did
specifically ask Mr. Wood for his
permission. I can't imagine that I would
have put his name on any pleading without
understanding that he had given me
permission to do that.
(Id. at Pg ID 5371.) Powell then suggested that
perhaps there was “a misunderstanding” between
her and Wood.17 (Id.) And Kleinhendler did not
recall whether he spoke to Wood before Wood's
name was included on the pleading. (Id.) The
Court does not believe that Wood was unaware of
his inclusion as counsel in this case until a
12
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