FORT SMITH -- Lyn Pruitt of Little Rock and two other defense lawyers have appealed a federal judge's ruling that they violated an ethics rule and abused the court system in moving a class-action insurance case from federal to state court for settlement, according to a notice of appeal filed Friday.
Pruitt and Hartford, Conn., lawyers Stephen Goldman and Wystan Ackerman defended the insurance company in Adams v. United Services Automobile Association.
Their appeal notice raises the question: "Did the district court err in concluding the respondents had violated Rule 11 and abused the judicial process?"
The appeal will go before the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in St. Louis. Their attorney, David Matthews of Rogers, declined to answer questions Friday.
Twelve plaintiffs' lawyers in the case filed their notice of appeal on the same issues Aug. 8.
Chief U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes ruled Aug. 3 that the three defense lawyers and the dozen class-action plaintiffs' lawyers were wrong to move the case from his federal court in Fort Smith to state court, where judges aren't required to as aggressively scrutinize settlement terms for fairness to all parties.
The settlement benefited the plaintiffs' lawyers and the insurance company at the expense of policyholders, who were harmed, Holmes said.
The judge reprimanded five of the plaintiffs' lawyers, including John Goodson of Texarkana, a University of Arkansas System trustee and one of the state's major political campaign contributors.
Holmes didn't reprimand the defense lawyers or seven of the plaintiffs' lawyers because he said they didn't demonstrate "bad faith," or prior knowledge that moving the case was wrong.
Metro on 08/20/2016