Delaware Supreme Court Vacates $25,000 Sanction Against Asbestos Plaintiff Attorney

DOVER, Del. –– The Delaware Supreme Court has vacated a $25,000 sanction against an asbestos plaintiff attorney, opining that Thomas Crumplar had satisfied the objective standard used to examine the reasonableness of the attorney’s inquiry into an incorrect case citation in an opposition brief.

In the Oct. 22 opinion, the high court also opined that the trial court erred when it did not give Crumplar a reasonable amount of time to respond to the sanctions motion, which was made sua sponte by the court.

Crumplar, of Jacobs & Crumplar, contested the October 2011 sanctions order issued by Judge Peggy L. …