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Counsel Concerns: Low Sanctions Are Upheld in Lawyer's Case Over Booking Discrimination Suit

By Greg Landline
June 01, 2019

After a lawsuit accusing high-flying Florida defense lawyer Willie Gary and his firm, Gary Williams Parenti Watson & Gary, of malpractice and racketeering was dismissed in 2016, one of the attorneys named in the suit sought more than $560,000 in sanctions against her accusers, who she said had smeared her with baseless accusations and online “rants.”

Judge Amy Totenberg of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia agreed that some sanctions were in order on behalf of attorney Maria Sperando but only awarded $2,000, saying the half-million she wanted was “unduly harsh and unreasonable.”

The Eleventh Circuit now has affirmed, ruling that Sperando “may disagree with the court's reasoning, but she has fallen well short of showing an abuse of discretion.” Rowe v. Gary, 18-11830.

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