DR Distributors, LLC v. 21 Century Smoking, Inc.

I have come back from a period of extended silence in the midst of the pandemic to make sure that everyone has easy access to the outstanding opinion in DR Distributors v. 21 Century Smoking, No. 12 CV 50324 (N.D. Ill. Jan. 19, 2021) It was was written by U.S. District Judge Iain Johnston in Chicago. The 256 page order, which comes with a two page table of contents, reads more like an educational treatise, but ends with real sanctions against the defendant and their attorneys. Although the client lied to their attorneys about the email, failing to mention key sources, the attorneys let them get way with it. Ultimately they were sanctioned along with their client. Judge Johnston summarizes the case as “a series of missteps, misdeeds, and misrepresentations” that left litigants and their former defense counsel “looking down…