Biglaw

Judge Benchslaps Biglaw Partner Bagging On The Mueller Investigation

Protip: Don't make an 'Animal House' joke in front of Judge Friedrich.

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It looks like U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich of the District of Columbia has drawn a line in the sand. Just because she was appointed to the judiciary by Donald Trump, that doesn’t mean she’s going to cotton to lawyers trying to drag Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

In a recent status conference in the case against Concord Management and Consulting, Judge Friedrich reached down and benchslapped Reed Smith partner Eric Dubelier over what she said were “unprofessional, inappropriate, and ineffective” comments. The smackdown stems from Reed Smith’s brief of January 4th, over a discovery dispute between the government and Concord Management. The brief analogizes an argument made by the Mueller investigation to the classic comedy “Animal House.” And that was the bridge too far for Judge Friedrich, who went on to say the strategy was “undermining your credibility in this courthouse,” before telling Dubelier to “knock it off.”

According to a report by Law.com, that wasn’t the end of the matter. Not content to willingly take the chastisement, Dubelier responded that he’d speak with his client to see if it made sense for him to continue with the representation, saying the judge’s comments amounted to a personal attack.

He angrily asserted that there had been “bias on the part of the court here.”

“There’s no bias,” Friedrich responded, again telling Dubelier there had been “many inappropriate remarks” in his filings to the court. “You know it,” she said.

“That’s your opinion,” Dubelier shot back, saying he was “entitled” to discuss it with his client. On that, the judge agreed.

Looks like this will be a fascinating dynamic to monitor as the case continues.

headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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