Estate of Calloway ex rel. LMN Productions, Inc. v. Marvel Entertainment Group

138 F.R.D. 646, 23 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 834, 1991 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12980
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedSeptember 17, 1991
DocketNo. 82 Civ. 8697 (RWS)
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 138 F.R.D. 646 (Estate of Calloway ex rel. LMN Productions, Inc. v. Marvel Entertainment Group) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Estate of Calloway ex rel. LMN Productions, Inc. v. Marvel Entertainment Group, 138 F.R.D. 646, 23 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 834, 1991 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12980 (S.D.N.Y. 1991).

Opinion

OPINION

SWEET, District Judge.

On remand The Marvel Entertainment Group, a division of Cadence Industries Corp. and certain individual defendants [647]*647(collectively “Marvel”) and Dumler & Gir-oux, the Shukat Company, Ltd., and Peter Shukat (collectively “Shukat”) have moved to impose sanctions in the amount of $100,-000 against the estate of Northern J. Callo-way (“Calloway”) and his former counsel Raymond L. LeFlore (“LeFlore”), jointly and severally. The motion is granted.

Prior Proceedings

Calloway, represented by LeFlore, commenced this action in December 1982 seeking recovery of an aggregate amount of $66 million against Marvel and other defendants for infringement of Calloway’s copyright in a work entitled The Skyrider by making unauthorized changes in it and distributing it to certain third parties without proper authorization. Marvel maintained that certain written agreements, dated June 8, 1981, signed by Calloway authorized their acts.

In the spring of 1984, the Marvel defendants moved for summary judgment on the basis of the June 8, 1981 agreements. Cal-loway opposed the motion, claiming that Calloway’s signature on the June 8, 1981 agreements had been forged.

By the July 3, 1984 decision, the motion was denied in an opinion which also stated:

Calloway has by a narrow margin put sufficient facts in contention to withstand defendants’ summary judgment motion. However, Calloway should be aware that this court has awarded attorney’s fees against a plaintiff who was found after trial to have pursued a claim in bad faith and without factual support ... The Court will not hesitate to award such costs if the facts are found after trial to warrant such an award.

After a six-week jury trial and a defendants’ verdict on May 13, 1986, defendants moved for sanctions as they had repeatedly warned Calloway and LeFlore that they would. Sanctions were imposed by this court in its decision of August 1, 1986 in the amount of $200,000 against Calloway and the law firm of Pavelic & LeFlore ($100,000 against each). The Marvel defendants were awarded costs as well. Ill F.R.D. 637 (S.D.N.Y.1986). Later, in its decision of December 23, 1986, the August 1 decision with respect to the award of $100,000 in sanctions as against Pavelic & LeFlore, was amended by imposing $50,000 in sanctions as against Ray L. LeFlore individually and $50,000 against Ray L. Le-Flore and Pavelic & LeFlore, jointly and severally. 650 F.Supp. 684 (S.D.N.Y.1986).

LeFlore and Pavelic & LeFlore filed an appeal, pro se. Marvel filed a cross-appeal, seeking an increase in the amount of sanctions that had been imposed against Le-Flore, his firm and Calloway.

In a decision dated August 12, 1988, the Second Circuit affirmed this court’s imposition of sanctions as against the attorneys. At the same time, the panel retained jurisdiction of any further appeals in this case (854 F.2d 1452, 1483), and stated that:

... we are sua sponte recalling the mandate and reinstating Calloway’s appeal in order to remand for a determination of the relative responsibility of Calloway and his attorneys for the conduct violating Rule 11 and the allocation of sanctions between them.

854 F.2d at 1473.

The Second Circuit found that there was a clear conflict of interest in Calloway’s having been represented in the Rule 11 proceeding by LeFlore and his law firm, vacated the $100,000 in sanctions as against Calloway, remanding this matter back to this court with the following instructions, among others:

The propriety of the portion of the Rule 11 sanctions imposed on the attorneys, $100,000 is thus clear. Less clear, however, is the liability of the attorneys for the $100,000 imposed solely upon Cal-loway, and we now remand for consideration of that issue. If on remand Judge Sweet decides not to reimpose some or all of the $100,000 sanctions on Calloway, a question then arises under the cross-appeal as to whether the attorneys should be made liable for the amount from which Calloway is then relieved in light of the fact that a finding of diminished responsibility on Calloway’s part appears to imply increased responsibility on the attorneys’ part. Even if on remand Calloway remains liable for some [648]*648or all of the sanctions, we believe a question exists as to the appropriateness of joint and several liability of the attorneys for that amount.
We believe these interrelated questions should be addressed as follows. We now affirm the $100,000 in sanctions imposed on the attorneys. On the remand that we have ordered in Calloway’s reinstated appeal, Judge Sweet, applying the legal standards described above, should determine what portion, if any, of the $200,000 total sanctions is the responsibility of Calloway and impose either no sanctions on him or an appropriate amount between zero and the $100,000 originally imposed. If he revises the sanctions against Calloway from the $100,000 originally imposed, he should then consider whether the attorneys should be liable for that portion of the $100,000 no longer outstanding as to Calloway. We believe this is an issue fairly raised by the Marvel defendants’ cross-appeal that seeks, inter alia, an increase in the sanctions imposed on the attorneys. The issue must be remanded, however. Judge Sweet’s balancing of the numerous pertinent factors has now been undone by our remand of Calloway’s appeal, and Judge Sweet should determine in the first instance the appropriate total mix of sanctions (in addition to the $100,000 affirmed) in the proceedings on remand.

854 F.2d at 1477.

At page 1466 of its decision, the Second Circuit stated:

Neither Calloway nor LeFlore submitted an affidavit in opposition to the motions for sanctions, leaving all factual issues to be decided on the existing record,

and permitted limited supplementation of the existing record upon the remand:

Calloway should also be allowed to make a factual submission in addition to the present record regarding his responsibility for the facsimile claim if he chooses. The attorneys may of course answer that submission.
$ $ $ * $ *
To some extent, the financial resources of the attorneys may be relevant to the remanded questions, and Pavelic and Le-Flore should be allowed to supplement the record on that issue notwithstanding their failure to offer such evidence originally.

854 F.2d at 1478.

Thereafter, Pavelic & LeFlore, the law firm, was granted certiorari in the Supreme Court, which determined that Rule 11 did not permit sanctions to be imposed against a law firm, but only against an individual attorney citation. It otherwise left undisturbed the imposition of sanctions as against LeFlore. LeFlore himself did not seek certiorari in the Supreme Court.

The Estate of Northern J. Calloway is now a party to this action in place of the deceased Northern J. Calloway.

The Court of Appeals on June 13, 1990 filed its mandate in the district court, directing:

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138 F.R.D. 646, 23 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 834, 1991 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12980, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/estate-of-calloway-ex-rel-lmn-productions-inc-v-marvel-entertainment-nysd-1991.