LANSING -- Geoffrey Fieger's lawyer must pay the attorney fees for a state Supreme Court justice sued by Fieger in 2005, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday while dismissing the lawsuit outright.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati upheld $29,000 in sanctions against Richard Steinberg, who filed the suit on Fieger's behalf, and ordered that Justice Stephen Markman's fees associated with the appeal be covered, too.
Fieger, his Southfield law firm and an advertising company sued Markman, Attorney General Mike Cox and Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land -- all Republicans. Fieger, a prominent Democratic trial lawyer who ran for governor in 1998, said he was the target of a "vindictive" prosecution and accused the defendants of conspiring to retaliate against him and limit his free-speech rights.
The case stems from Cox's 2005 campaign-finance probe of Fieger, who spent $457,000 on TV ads bashing Markman in the 2004 election. Markman won re-election.
Cox later turned the investigation over to a special prosecutor after admitting an extramarital affair and accusing Fieger of blackmailing him over it. The prosecutor said criminal charges weren't merited but civil fines might be.
A three-judge appeals panel on Tuesday upheld U.S. District Judge Lawrence Zatkoff's decision to dismiss Fieger's suit and agreed that federal courts should stay out of the matter since Fieger had raised similar concerns in state courts. The court also said Zatkhoff could order sanctions because no facts were alleged showing that Markman engaged in a plan to violate Fieger's constitutional rights.
"The filing of a meritless, factually deficient and speculative action ... was not appropriate or reasonable, nor will this court tolerate its filing or ignore the ramifications to Markman (financial and otherwise)," Zatkoff ruled in 2006.
Sanctions -- which are rare -- can be imposed for filing frivolous suits, or for suing to harass or impose needless costs on someone.
Steinberg, a Detroit attorney who withdrew from the suit a year after it was filed, said Tuesday's decision "will give pause to even the most fearless trial lawyer before they take on unpopular clients or unpopular causes." Markman declined to comment, as did Cox and Land.
Steinberg has since sued Fieger, claiming he hasn't paid him $350,000 in legal fees for various cases. It's unclear whether Steinberg or a lawyer in Fieger's firm who argued the appeal, Michael Dezsi, will have to pay Markman's costs stemming from the appeal. A message seeking comment was left with Dezsi.
Fieger's lawyers have said they were trying to attack what they believed was a politically motivated investigation of the Supreme Court ads. The Michigan Court of Appeals in 2007, though, ruled that an Ingham County judge improperly blocked Cox from investigating Fieger.
Fieger, known for defending assisted-suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian, is no stranger to campaign-finance cases.
He and a law partner are on trial in Detroit because federal prosecutors say they gave money to employees and others who donated to Democrat John Edwards' 2004 presidential campaign. Fieger's lawyers, however, say he reimbursed employees for donations in a way he thought was legal.
Edwards eventually became Democrat John Kerry's running mate in 2004 and dropped out of this year's presidential race.
Judges Boyce Martin Jr., Alan Norris and Frederick Stamp Jr. issued Tuesday's ruling.