ID attorney, only been in practice for about 8 months. One of my first cases assigned to me was a construction defect case on a massive home renovation/addition. Our insured is the GC on the project. Just looking for others to share their experiences and how they navigated/overcame. TLDR at end.
PL is a seasoned attorney, sued the GC on a personal project, and PL is now pro se on the case. GC was represented by another defense firm, which filed a countersuit against PL for breach of contract. Our firm was then added as co-counsel.
Depo of GC was taken by PL months ago, lasted 7 hours, and was continued. Depo went pretty badly, GC did not do well and fell for intimidation tactics we prepped him not to fall for.
We had the GC review and sign a sworn affidavit in support of our response to a motion. PL eventually withdrew the motion.
Continuation of GC's depo happened the other day. We prepped GC to not give into PL's intimidation tactics, including threats of perjury. Depo lasted another 7 hours. GC completely folded. 7 hours of agony. GC essentially recanted all facts that were the basis for our defenses and counterclaim, admitted that GC did not read the affidavit before swearing to it (we spoke with him several times about the affidavit and sent it to him for approval before filing it), agreed with PL that nearly the entire affidavit was inaccurate or untrue (after multiple threats of perjury).
PL is now moving for sanctions against myself and co-counsel for essentially filing frivolous claims, fraud, misrepresentation, and whatever other bad lawyer words you can think of. Obviously, there was no intentional fraud or bad faith - all information was based on conversations with the GC. Frankly, I still believe what we alleged is true, but that the GC only agreed with the PL because the GC was intimidated and overwhelmed during the depo.
My supervising attorney is out of state in trial, so I have been mostly consumed by my own thoughts and have been spiraling for days, since there seemingly is a world where I do get sanctioned. I know this is not the first time something like this has ever happened to an attorney... right? I know this is not a career death sentence... right?
TLDR: insured GC recanted our entire case (including all defenses and facts relating to counterclaim) during depo, including a sworn affidavit which he admitted he didn't read before signing it, and a motion for sanctions followed.