A Pennsylvania Superior Court panel has tossed out an appeal after finding that defense lawyers "blatantly violated" procedural rules when they flooded the courts with appellate issues that were too many and too wordy.
Considering a pair of appeals from attorney Alan B. Epstein and his law firm, the court quashed the first set as premature and refused the second, saying the defendants' procedural violations had effectively waived all the appellate issues they asked the court to review.
Judge John L. Musmanno, writing for the panel, said the defendants' misconduct "impeded our ability to undertake a meaningful review of the issues raised by the defendants on appeal."
In so ruling, the court affirmed the Philadelphia trial court's judgment, which included $431,000 in compensatory damages, $645,000 in punitive damages and more than $211,000 in attorney fees and contempt charges assessed against Epstein and Spector Gadon & Rosen.