First Department Upholds Sanctions For "Profanity-Laden Attack on Lawyer Conducting Deposition"

On April 19, 2016, the First Department issued a decision in Freidman v. Yakov, 2016 NY Slip Op. 02944, upholding an award of sanctions against an attorney for deposition conduct, explaining:

The court providently exercised its discretion by finding that Evgeny engaged in frivolous conduct and sanctioning him. In addition to the episode on which the motion court relied, where Evgeny — a lawyer who was present at Naum's deposition as an observer and a party — launched a profanity-laden attack on the lawyer conducting the deposition, we have, as requested by counterclaim defendants, reviewed the entire deposition transcript and find it replete with instances of conduct undertaken primarily to delay or prolong the resolution of the litigation, or to harass or maliciously injure another. Although Evgeny is a practicing lawyer, the record shows that he claimed not to know basic legal terms and repeatedly played word games with defense counsel.

(Internal quotations and citations omitted).