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Physical Altercation Between Attorneys Allegedly Behind Mistrial

That's one way to get a new trial.

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967417A California malpractice case against Geragos & Geragos has ended in a mistrial. That fact, by itself, is not particularly interesting. But the reason for the mistrial is what’s turning heads.

One of the attorneys at Geragos & Geragos says a physical altercation between the attorneys in the case was behind the mistrial. You don’t often hear about lawyer fights that get physical, but that’s the allegation flying about.

As reported by Law360:

But Geragos & Geragos APC attorney Alexandra Kazarian told Law360 that the mistrial involved a purported physical altercation allegedly initiated by the plaintiffs’ attorney against a defense attorney in the hallway outside the courtroom at the end of the day Friday, which some jurors may have observed. Kazarian, who wasn’t in court Friday afternoon, said she did not observe the alleged altercation, but she was present on Monday for closed-door discussions between the judge and attorneys that concluded with the mistrial declaration.

Plaintiff’s attorney Ron A. Rosen Janfaza denied there was a physical altercation.

But Kazarian continued taking shots — these verbal — at opposing counsel, alleging trial strategy was behind the altercation, saying it “appears that this was calculated and engineered by the plaintiff side for the purposes of getting a mistrial.” And she wasn’t done sounding off about the attorneys, “The daily disrespect by plaintiff side directed at witnesses, experts, counsel and the system as a whole including the jurors was mind-boggling.”

Kazarian also indicated the state bar would be getting word of the incident.

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As you might imagine, this isn’t the first contentious issue between the parties. Plaintiff’s counsel filed a motion in limine asking the judge to bar the defense from “making any more snide comments of any kind that are disrespectful to plaintiffs’ counsel or the court as they have done in front of the jury.” The plaintiffs also sought a new trial based on those comments. But it looks like they got what they wanted anyway.

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. 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 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.

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