Defendants Say Laws Support Sanctions Against Silica Firm

JACKSON, Miss. - Defendants appealing a trial court's decision not to sanction a plaintiffs' firm for filing thousands of allegedly fraudulent silica claims have filed a brief in Mississippi, challenging the notion that state law did not provide a vehicle for sanctioning the firm at the time the claims were filed. Choctaw Inc., et al. v. Prince, et al., No. 2006-CA-01621 (Miss. Sup. Ct.).

In a March 20 appellants' brief, the defendants argue that the trial court erred in adopting the plaintiffs' firm-authored order denying the motion for sanctions because Mississippi law categorically prohibits bringing groundless claims for the 'vexatious …