Biglaw

Biglaw Partner Learns The Hard Way You Can't Launch 'Baseless' Accusations Of Antisemitism

Kramer Levin partner denied pro hac vice admission.

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patent lawThe Patent Trial and Appeal Board isn’t going to let just any attorney argue before it. Kramer Levin partner Paul Andre‘s motion to be admitted to argue before the board pro hac vice was denied, and he will not be permitted to represent client Centripetal Networks in a patent challenge.

The denial came as a result of a 2021 sanction Andre received from Western District of Texas U.S. District Judge Alan D. Albright. In that case, Andre accused opposing counsel of being antisemitic and racist. Judge Albright called those allegations “vitriolic and unsubstantiated,” “shocking,” and “offensive to this court.”

As reported by Law360, the pro hac denial also referenced other misconduct allegations by Andre:

The PTAB also pointed to Judge Albright saying Andre had committed previous misconduct in his court, in a case where he was accused of trying to artificially boost damages and misrepresent an earlier decision, among other concerns. There, the judge did not issue sanctions, but he did warn that the actions were “improper and frustrated the fairness of the proceedings.”

“Judges in the future should take this into account when dealing with them in future cases,” Judge Albright said in a July 2021 decision, referring to Andre along with fellow Kramer Levin attorneys Lisa Kobialka and James Hannah.

The PTAB also denied Andre’s motion to have Administrative Patent Judge Brian McNamara recused, based on stock ownership. Judge McNamara did ultimately recuse himself, but the PTAB called the allegations levied against the judge “frivolous,” and that saying he had “personal bias” against Centripetal was “reckless.”

“The arguments Mr. Andre has already presented in this case (before being admitted) thus appear to bear more than a passing resemblance to the ‘baseless attacks on the integrity of [the] court’ that resulted in the sanctions imposed by Judge Albright,” the order states.

Andre commented on the PTAB’s move, saying, “The PTAB’s denial of Centripetal’s counsel of choice is yet another example of their ongoing disregard of Centripetal’s rights.”

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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.

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