Opinion ID: 1796970
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: the actions of counsel for plaintiffs

Text: In the same vein, counsel for the defendants has raised serious questions in regard to the propriety of the actions of counsel for the plaintiffs in this matter and this court believes it has a duty to the bench, the bar and in the proper administration of justice to address those questions and ultimately to address the actions of counsel for the plaintiffs. The defendants allege that there was no conceivable legal basis for this suit or this appeal. It is the third suit filed in which the same attorney has attacked the validity of the existing supreme court on essentially the same basis. Defendants also urge that plaintiffs' pleadings and briefs are disrespectful and contain harsh and improper allegations. Has counsel for the plaintiffs been abusive of the judicial system in that he has filed scandalous and impertinent pleadings and briefs? Scandalous matter is defined as: Defamatory reports or rumors; aspersion or slanderous talk, uttered recklessly or maliciously. Black's Law Dictionary 1206 (5th ed. 1979). Impertinence is defined by Black as: Irrelevancy; the fault of not properly pertaining to the issue or proceeding. That which does not belong to a pleading, interrogatory or other proceeding; out of place; superfluous; irrelevant. A term applied to matter not necessary to constitute the cause of action or ground of defense. Id. at 679. The briefs of the plaintiffs are replete with material we find to be scandalous and impertinent. Examples follow. In the original complaint counsel for plaintiffs and the sole organizer of Bench and Bar alleges: Relator BENCH AND BAR is a non-profit corporation organized under the Tennessee General Corporation Act, for the following purposes: To aid and strengthen the administration of justice by inculcating and encouraging a fearless respect for and appreciation of plain truth and simple honesty; to endeavor to make hatred of all common law fraud a principle of adjudication of controversies in the civil courts ; to promote and support endeavors to bring about practical and salutary application of the cliche, Ours is a government of laws and not of men; and to devise means for opening the channels of communication between the courts and the public to enable the people to perceive that justice is being done. BENCH AND BAR has, therefore, a special and peculiar interest which entitles it to join as relator in this action. (Emphasis supplied). In the motion to recuse in the supreme court in the case of Union Planters National Bank of Memphis v. Inman, counsel, in complaining about the decision of the Western Section, inferred some apparent wrongful conduct to the distinguished Judge M. Watkins Ewell, Jr., now deceased. Judge Ewell was a member of the special supreme court appointed by the Governor in the Taylor cases and sat as a member of the Western Section of the Court of Appeals of Tennessee at the time of the Inman appeal. That motion to recuse filed by counsel herein alleges that: The petitioners in their application for permission to appeal the decision of the court of appeals in this case contend that the decision is based upon findings and conclusions of the court of appeals which are the result of a garbling and falsification of the record. In the amended complaint filed herein and in the briefs of the plaintiff, the existing Supreme Court of the State of Tennessee was repeatedly referred to as a spurious court. Further, in the amended complaint filed by counsel wherein concern is registered about the action of the supreme court in not overturning the appeal of Inman in reference to the spurious court the allegation is made that: Its approval of the judgment of the Court of Appeals cannot be ascribed to inadvertence. Palpably, it was due to partiality to the draftsmen of the will and a bias against the attorney for contestants who was questioning the authority of the sitting judges on constitutional grounds to determine the appeal. In his brief counsel for the plaintiffs alleges a falsification by the Taylor special supreme court of a portion of T.C.A. § 2-13-102. The following is quoted from that brief filed with this court: Another reason required the falsification. The opinion gave as a reason why the chancery court had no jurisdiction, that the disappointed candidate had a statutory right (just where such a provision is to be found and the statute was, of course, not disclosed) to contest the nomination, but it was before the State Primary Board of the Democratic Party, not the chancery courts. So, after this shameful revamping of the statute, the Special Court concluded: ... . Further, the brief of counsel states: Need it be said that the good faith and integrity of the special panel is severely impugned by their deliberate and artful misrepresentation of the statute? Few lawyers, without laying the statute along side the opinion and comparing them, as we have done here, would had discovered the subreption. And further: The decision of the Special panel on the factitious case made by it is no determination of the real issue now before the Court the second time. In the amicus curiae brief of counsel in his own name which was filed only two days before oral argument in this cause, the attorney for plaintiffs abuses the lawful and properly constituted supreme court on a matter totally unrelated to any of the issues before this court. That matter was whether the creation of the disciplinary board and the requirement of an annual license fee for all practicing attorneys for disciplinary purposes is legal. That question had absolutely no relevancy to the instant litigation. Throughout this document the supreme court (and the entire judicial system) was belittled, and demeaned. As an example, on page 6 the document states: In 1975 the spurious supreme court had the effrontery to create another inferior court which it called the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court thereby making it a subagent to discipline attorneys. Further, in the same document concerning his complaint because of the filing of disciplinary proceedings against him counsel wrote: Immediately after the filing of the Amended and Supplemental Complaint in the case in the chancery court  all of the allegations of fact being admitted by the defendants  they (or one member) of the court secretly and surreptiously (sic) instigated proceedings against the undersigned before the Disciplinary Board based on the very same allegations of fact that by their motion to dismiss in the chancery court below they had admitted were true. This was done personally and not officially. They used Thomas A. Shriver, Presiding Judge in the Court of Appeals, as a front or catspaw in an underhanded and diabolical plot to bring odium on him because he had brought out the truth about the matters pertinent to the cause of action he was pursuing for his clients. (Emphasis supplied). Finally, on page 9 of this amicus curiae brief of counsel for plaintiffs, and in reference to his belief that the creation of the disciplinary board was improper, counsel stated that: The defendants rely heavily on the doctrine of inherent powers for their authority to create the Disciplinary Board. It is to be presumed, we suppose, that they contend that this power is to be found somewhere in the Constitution; otherwise this power would be extra-constitutional. We have shown that such a concept is prohibited by the express words of the Constitution. So, they must be driven to the assertion that it lurks somewhere in the secret recesses of the Constitution, like the unwritten law formerly sometimes invoked. We believe that it will not be far-fetched to trace the origin of the doctrine to Louis XIV of France, who in the seventeenth century is reported to have justified the arbitrary power he exercised by the dogmatism, L'Etat, C'est Moi, I am the State. This court holds the express statements of counsel for the plaintiffs to be of the most reprehensible nature and statements that are clearly scandalous and impertinent. Irrespective of whether members of the bar ever agree with the decision of the supreme court or any other court of this state or this nation they are obliged to treat those bodies with respect and reason and should follow at least minimum standards of decent and reasonable human conduct. Having represented the clear loser as to this question in two other separate lawsuits which found their way to the supreme court and which were heard by impartial tribunals below and at the supreme court level, counsel for the plaintiffs has tried to get in the barn by the back door, because the front door and the side door had been locked. In the pleadings before this court he has impugned the integrity of the existing Supreme Court of the State of Tennessee, the special supreme court, which heard the case which ended in a result unsatisfactory to him, and the Court of Appeals for the Western Section of the State of Tennessee because the result there did not suit his client, Mr. Inman. He has additionally impugned the integrity of a distinguished retired member of the Middle Section of the Court of Appeals of Tennessee. Based upon his past history of being unable to accept the proposition that political party squabbles over the nominating process are to be resolved in Tennessee within the party structure and not in the courts, we recognize the likelihood that the motives of this court will likewise be questioned by counsel for plaintiffs at some future time in some forum. This is indeed unfortunate  not for any personal harm done to any jurist  but because it substitutes passion for reason and serves to undermine and to weaken the foundation upon which our judicial system is based. In truth and fact, there was no reasonable legal basis for this suit to be filed or the appeal to be taken. Because of the filing of this suit and this appeal the state has been put to considerable extra expense, another special supreme court has been required to be constituted, and many man hours have been needlessly expended by all parties involved in the process. Not only was there no reasonable basis for the lawsuit, the defamatory statements made in the pleadings and the briefs as to members of the judiciary are the most scandalous, improper and impertinent seen in the experience in the legal profession of the members of this court. In Ward v. Univ. of the South, 209 Tenn. 412, 354 S.W.2d 246 (1962), one of the counsel in his brief asserted that certain proof in the record gives the lie to the Trial Judge's conclusion that `The University was not acquainted with all the circumstances.' Id. 354 S.W.2d at 248. In commenting and acting upon the above, the supreme court said: Considered in the light of the foregoing authorities defining the word lie, and as the word is commonly used, there is not the slightest excuse for counsel's scandalous and impertinent assertion. It is not only an unwarranted defamatory imputation upon the integrity of one of the most able, conscientious and impartial trial judges in the State, but the flagrant violation of all the rules of professional propriety which govern the conduct of reputable members of the bar in their relations to the courts of which they are officers and in which they are allowed to practice. While it is entirely proper for the counsel in his brief to show errors, and apply the law to them, he is not permitted to insert matters which are defamatory, scandalous, impertinent and untrue. Nor will the courts tolerate, either orally or by brief, their use as a vehicle for abuse of the trial judge, or as a forum for an unsuccessful attorney to vent his spite. 5 C.J.S., Appeal & Error sec. 1327, p. 346, 347, clearly states the law bearing on this sort of offense, supported by an abundance of authority, as follows: A brief in no case can be used as a vehicle for the conveyance of hatred, contempt, insult, disrespect or professional discourtesy of any nature for the court of review, trial judge, or opposing counsel; invectives are not argument, and have no place in legal discussion, but tend only to produce prejudice and discord. The practice of inserting in briefs language which tends to bring ridicule on the trial judge or jury or which impugns his or their motives and conduct, is considered a very reprehensible one and deserving of the strongest censure, and statements objectionable in this regard will not be considered. The penalty therefor seems to depend in a measure on the degree of the offense; in a number of cases the reviewing court has seemed to consider it sufficient to reprimand counsel and sound a note of warning against any further repetition of his misconduct. Sec. 1327, pp. 346, 347. Counsel, in the instant case, has exercised the practice of law in this state for several years, and by now should be well informed of the rules and standards required of a licensed attorney. Many of these rules and standards are defined in the Canons of Professional Ethics which, by Rule 38, have been incorporated in the Rules of this Court. 185 Tenn. 889. In making the unwarranted assertion in his brief, counsel obviously chose to ignore and violate these rules. In doing so, his misconduct was highly reprehensible, and he deserves to be and is reprimanded; and he is warned that any further repetitions of misconduct will not be tolerated. Id. 354 S.W.2d at 249. The situation here is not unlike that in Ward v. Univ. of the South, supra . We shall have no more of this. This court invokes its inherent equity power. Counsel for plaintiffs is forthwith restrained and enjoined in the future from in any way participating, directly or indirectly, alone or in concert with others, as counsel or party, in the filing of any other suit in any court of the State of Tennessee seeking to test the legality of the existing Supreme Court of the State of Tennessee based on any alleged improper action by the Democratic Party State Executive Committee in 1974 or any other fault with the nomination process as to the duly elected and de jure supreme court. See Stewart v. Wakefield, 536 S.W.2d 327 (Tenn. 1976), where the supreme court enjoined the filing by appellants, and all persons acting in concert or privity with them of any further litigation in the courts of this state questioning or attempting to challenge the validity of the bond issue here in question... . This court expressly remands this matter to the Chancery Court of Davidson County, Tennessee, for the sole purpose of enforcing, if necessary, the mandates of the injunctive relief decreed herein. Further, this court issues to counsel for plaintiffs the sternest of warnings that any future or additional scandalous, impertinent, improper and demeaning allegations or invectives made by him against the existing supreme court or any other court will no longer be ignored or tolerated. This is a system of laws, not of men as correctly pointed out by counsel for plaintiffs in his brief, but in the wrong context. There is no place in this, or any other judicial system, for the type of disregard and disrespect for the judiciary repeatedly displayed by said counsel. At this time this court will not award damages for a frivolous appeal pursuant to T.C.A. § 27-124 as it is not the sense and will of this court to monetarily punish either the plaintiffs or their counsel. However, it is the sense and will of this court that these seemingly endless and clearly improper efforts by counsel for plaintiffs to overturn previous well documented and proper rulings of this and other courts and to cast aspersions thereon will no longer be tolerated. The decision of the learned chancellor is affirmed and the case remanded for the limited purpose of enforcing the injunction, if necessary. The costs are taxed to the plaintiffs. E. BRUCE FOSTER, Jr., WALKER T. TIPTON, and A.C. WHARTON, Special Justices, concur.