These lawsuits were filed across the United States, targeting people whose Internet connections were allegedly used to download and share copyright infringing content via BitTorrent.<\/p>\n
In the case of Strike 3, this refers to adult videos which are made available via the Blacked, Tushy, and Vixen websites. The company\u2019s legal campaign has kept the courts busy and contributed to the\u00a0record-breaking<\/a>\u00a0breaking number of piracy lawsuits that were filed last year.<\/p>\n Many of these cases were handled by veteran lawyer\u00a0Lincoln Bandlow<\/a>, who\u2019s a partner at the\u00a0law firm\u00a0Fox Rothschild LLP<\/a>.\u00a0 While the attorney, who\u2019s also a visiting professor at USC, has plenty of experience it turns out that handling dozens of cases at once can be quite a challenge.<\/p>\n Last November, Bandlow was slapped on the wrist for failing to meet the court\u2019s deadlines. The attorney explained that this was due to\u00a0calendaring issues or incorrectly reading the court\u2019s orders. He apologized and promised to\u00a0take steps to prevent similar issues going forward.<\/p>\n However, it didn\u2019t take long before more deadlines were missed in two dozen cases at the Eastern District of California. This time the attorney forgot to submit status reports. Again, the court requested clarification, asking Bandlow why he shouldn\u2019t be sanctioned for failing to follow its orders.<\/p>\n In this reply, Bandlow attributed the failures to a variety of reasons including technical issues such as an overactive email spam filter, as well as a lack of personnel over the holidays. The attorney also highlighted his track record by noting that he was never sanctioned in 25 years.<\/p>\n This reply didn\u2019t convince the court. In an order issued last week, US Magistrate Judge\u00a0Carolyn Delaney wrote that Bandlow\u2019s excuses and explanations are unavailing, especially since he was already reprimanded just weeks earlier.<\/p>\n The technological \u2018issues\u2019 are no excuse, the Judge writes, noting that people were already practicing law long before there were computers.<\/p>\n \u201cThe practice of law predates the computer. Computer and technological problems do not justify failing to comply with court-ordered deadlines, especially under the specific circumstances of these cases.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce Mr. Bandlow became aware of his technological problems, he could have\u2014and indeed should have\u2014manually calendared and tracked all deadlines,\u201d\u00a0Judge\u00a0Delaney adds.<\/p>\n In addition, Strike 3\u2019s attorney\u2019s explanation that 19 out of the 24 cases with missed deadlines were the result of inadequate staffing, is both \u201cunacceptable and inexcusable\u201d. Especially since Bandlow explained that his law firm Fox Rothschild LLP employs 900 lawyers.<\/p>\n Taken together, the Magistrate Judge concludes that the attorney\u2019s actions\u00a0are not mere mistakes, but\u00a0willful disobedience of the court.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter he was reprimanded for failing to meet deadlines in related matters, Mr. Bandlow was on notice of problems with his calendaring procedure and he was explicitly warned to make sure that he properly calendared all future deadlines.<\/p>\n \u201cInstead of doing so, Mr. Bandlow failed to comply with court-ordered deadlines twenty-four additional times. Mr. Bandlow\u2019s conduct constitutes willful disobedience of court orders, which is tantamount to bad faith,\u201d\u00a0Judge\u00a0Delaney notes.<\/p>\n So, after 25 years of practicing law Bandlow now has his first sanction.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The good news for the attorney is that the \u201cbad faith\u201d is not the worst of its kind. Also, the court believes that his apology is sincere. Nonetheless, this type of conduct is unacceptable, especially for an attorney with\u00a0over twenty-five years of experience.\u00a0As such, a\u00a0$750 sanction is warranted.<\/p>\n While this amount can easily be recouped via a single settlement against an alleged pirate, it\u2019s not good for one\u2019s reputation. In any case, Law.com\u00a0quotes<\/a>\u00a0the attorney saying that the $750 will be paid \u201cimmediately.\u201d<\/p>\n Whether the massive volume of cases has anything to do with it is unclear. It wouldn\u2019t be a surprise. However, Bandlow is not slowing down much in the new year and has already filed more than 100 new cases on behalf of Strike 3 in 2019.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A copy of\u00a0Magistrate Judge\u00a0Carolyn Delaney\u2019s order is available\u00a0here (pdf)<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Source: \u00a0![\"\"](\"https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/sanc.png\")
![\"TorrentFreak\"](\"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/torrentfreak.png\")
<\/a> TorrentFreak.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"