An appeals court on Tuesday issued a stay of a federal judge's order sanctioning a Little Rock law firm and its managing attorney over a billing dispute.
Last week, U.S. District Judge Billy Roy Wilson issued an order barring Josh Sanford and the Sanford Law Firm from practicing in federal court in the Eastern District of Arkansas for two years, citing their efforts to collect what the judge described as inflated attorneys fees in a class-action lawsuit settlement and dragging out litigation over the issue.
He later amended the suspension to include only cases brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act but left all other sanctions in place, including a requirement that Sanford present the show cause order issued by Wilson compelling Sanford to appear in court and the suspension order to any court in which he or his law firm practices.
The Sanford firm won a class-action lawsuit filed in 2018 on behalf of Anthony Vines and Dominique Lewis, who represented a class of workers at Welspun Pipes Inc. accusing the company of underpaying the workers for overtime hours they worked. A complaint accused the company of rounding down hours worked on its electronic time clock, resulting in several hours of unpaid work each month, and of not paying overtime in accordance with federal wage and hour laws.
In May 2020, Wilson refused to approve a settlement in the case, balking over the $96,000 in attorney's fees that were included, instead sending the parties back to the negotiating table...
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