Bar Discipline Follows Civil Sanction

A California attorney admitted pro hac vice has been reprimanded by the South Carolina Supreme Court for frivolous litigation in a family matter

Respondent’s great-aunt passed away in February 2009, and through a series of frivolous pleadings, motions, and appeals, Respondent raised various challenges to the will and protracted the related litigation for over ten years until the Supreme Court of the United States finally denied her petition for a writ of certiorari. See Fisher v. Huckabee, 140 S.Ct. 59 (2019) (denying certiorari); Fisher v. Huckabee, 422 S.C. 234, 811 S.E.2d 739 (2018) (rejecting Respondent’s legally flawed claims). In our opinion addressing the lower court’s award of sanctions against Respondent, this Court concluded Respondent lacked standing and repeatedly pursued claims that were meritless and wholly without evidence to support them. Fisher v. Huckabee, Op. No. 2018-MO-039 (S.C. Sup. Ct. filed Dec. 12, 2018) (withdrawn, substituted, and refiled Jan. 16, 2019). In doing so, we observed Respondent “has certainly engaged in abusive litigation tactics that amount to sanctionable conduct” under Rule 11, SCRCP. Id. at 3. Respondent’s misconduct resulted in a substantial waste of time, judicial resources, and estate assets.

Rule 11 sanctions were imposed in the underlying matter. (Mike Frisch)