Supreme Court upholds $122,000 legal fees against Lake's lawyers

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 13 Oct, 22:32 · Archive

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to overturn $122,000 in legal costs ordered against lawyers for Arizona's Kari Lake over a 2022 election lawsuit.

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to overturn $122,000 in legal costs that lawyers for former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake were ordered to pay for making false and misleading statements in a 2022 lawsuit. The Supreme Court on Tuesday denied a request from attorney Andrew D. Parker to review a lower-court decision over the legal costs arising from the unsuccessful litigation.

The lawsuit by Lake and state lawmaker Mark Finchem sought to ban electronic tabulation devices and require a hand-count of all ballots in the 2022 midterm elections. A judge dismissed the case, finding Lake and Finchem lacked standing to sue and that their lawsuit was filed too close to the election. Lake lost the governor's race to Democrat Katie Hobbs and Finchem was defeated in the secretary of state's race by Democrat Andrian Fontes.

Maricopa County had sought sanctions against the lawyers, alleging they broke court rules by making unfounded allegations and failing to conduct necessary research before filing the lawsuit. U.S. District Judge John Tuchi concluded the lawsuit's claims lacked adequate basis in fact and that the lawyers acted recklessly in seeking a court order based on frivolous claims. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected appeals over the lawsuit's dismissal and the awarding of legal fees.

How it is being reported

• Supreme Court refuses to toss out fees for lawyers who sought hand count in Arizona electionThe U.S. Supreme Court has refused to throw out $122,000 in legal costs that lawyers for former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake were ordered to pay for making false and misleading statements in a 2022 lawsuit.Clickorlando · 13 Oct, 22:12
• Supreme Court refuses to toss out fees for lawyers who sought hand count in Arizona electionThe U.S. Supreme Court has refused to throw out $122,000 in legal costs that lawyers for former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake were ordered to pay for making false and misleading statements in a 2022 lawsuit.News4Jax · 13 Oct, 22:12

In this story: Kari Lake · Mark Finchem · Andrew D. Parker · Katie Hobbs · Andrian Fontes · John Tuchi · Maricopa County · Arizona

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