The Boston Bar Association drafted and submitted a brief in this case regarding the court’s inherent power to sanction attorney conduct. The case stemmed from the trial judge’s order that an attorney who was allegedly responsible for the breakdown of a proposed settlement agreement among parties to the sale of three local supermarkets, must pay $240,000 in sanctions. Our brief inspired a number of statements and bench questions at oral argument.It argues, and the SJC holding confirms, that the trial judge did not have authority to sanction the attorney in this case and the issue was more appropriate for review by the Board of Bar Overseers, to whom the trial judge had also referred the matter. The ruling provides valuable guidance, as our brief requested, on the court’s authority to sanction attorneys. Read more about this case here.
