Judge Faults Former SEC Enforcement Chief Over Conduct

Lamberth last week unsealed an opinion he issued in late April in which he granted sanctions against Exxon Mobil, which Paul Weiss is defending against human rights claims in a 20-year lawsuit. He found Oh, who led the defense of the Exxon Mobil witness during the deposition, appeared to have assisted the witness in reading prewritten answers that didn’t address the questions and Oh didn’t take action to prevent the witness’ misconduct.

Judge Royce Lamberth of District of Columbia’s federal district court. Credit: Diego M. Radzinschi / ALM

“The court implores counsel to conduct themselves in a manner befitting their profession. For the law is a noble profession,” Lamberth wrote, quoting a 1945 speech by Harrison Tweed as he became president of the New York City Bar Association. “But that only remains true when attorneys uphold their ethical obligations. Counsel should behave accordingly.”

Oh’s Apology

In filings submitted Friday, shortly after the opinion was unsealed, both Paul Weiss and Oh, represented by attorneys at Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick, apologized to Lamberth. 

However, each maintained that they made the allegations against their opposing counsel “in good faith,” with Oh filing a declaration outlining her recollection of the deposition.

“Regrettably, on this occasion, I allowed my strong convictions to get the better of me,” Oh said. “I believed in good faith that my approach to the deposition was appropriate, and that my characterizations of opposing counsel’s demeanor, based on my personal observations, were fair and supported by evidence. But I regret using the language in question and should have let myself be guided by a higher standard.

“I have learned from this experience that, when tempers have risen in litigation, greater care is required in the words that I choose,” Oh said in concluding her declaration.

In the Paul Weiss filing, attorneys wrote that the firm “has always striven to treat opposing counsel with respect and civility while zealously defending its clients’ interests, and it pledges to redouble its efforts to do so in this case.”

Plaintiffs’ counsel, including Cohen Milstein, on Monday pushed for the sanctions, calling the briefs from defense counsel “half-apologies.”

“Here, baseless defense accusations were made in an effort to respond aggressively and inappropriately to a meritorious sanctions motion,” the brief reads.

“The accusations falsely impugned the integrity of plaintiffs’ counsel and, in essence, counsel’s temperament to practice law. And they were made not in the heat of the moment, but in a pleading bearing the names of five Paul Weiss attorneys and Exxon’s in-house counsel, filed weeks after the deposition was completed and with a full opportunity to review both the transcript and the videotape. This was sanctionable conduct,” it explains.

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