BLG Win in Court of Appeals Ends Ex-Attorney’s Frivolous Bid for Attorney’s Fees
Following briefing by BLG’s attorneys, a three-judge panel ruled against ex-attorney Bradley Pollack in his appeal of a trial court ruling that quashed his lien for attorney’s fees. The ruling ends a 2-year-long legal battle Pollack waged against BLG’s client through state and federal court.
In a statement, BLG Attorney Tim Bosson called the ruling a fitting end to Pollack’s claims. “Virginia Courts have rightly put an end to Mr. Pollack’s campaign against our client. Most of all, we’re happy Ms. Jahshan can move on with her life without the burden of this fruitless litigation.”
““[T]he panel unanimously holds that oral argument is unnecessary because “the appeal is wholly without merit.””
The Court of Appeals found Pollack provided an inadequate record and insufficiently briefed his arguments on appeal. The Court concluded Pollack “[had] no one to blame but himself” for the outcome, as Pollack has previously appeared before Virginia appeals courts almost a dozen times.
Pollack filed the appeal pro-se while serving a six-month law license suspension for violating attorney accounting practices. Last week, Pollack’s law license was permanently revoked by a Virginia Circuit Court due to his continued violations of attorney professional conduct rules.
The Appeals Court’s ruling affirms a September 2023 order by Rockingham Circuit Court that quashed the attorney’s fees lien Pollack filed against BLG’s client. In briefing, BLG’s attorneys successfully argued Pollack failed to timely perfect his lien – having filed it 18 months after the divorce proceedings it was based upon had concluded. Worse, Pollack had already pursued legal action against BLG’s client regarding the disputed fees in federal court. In a ruling issued after Pollack voluntarily dismissed those claims in May 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia required Pollack to refile any claims about the disputed fees in the District Court. BLG argued refiling the lien in state court was a stealthy attempt by Pollack to obtain disputed fees without having to litigate the merits of his claims in federal court.
Despite BLG’s success in quashing the lien in Circuit Court, Pollack filed his appeal in the Virginia Court of Appeals just a month after the Circuit Court’s ruling. Concerned that Pollack would continue escalating his frivolous campaign to seek the disputed fees, BLG moved to have the U.S. District Court enforce its May 2023 order requiring Pollack seek the claims in federal court.
After briefing and oral argument, the District Court agreed. In a 9-page ruling, the Judge found Pollack’s state court lien was a “bad faith attempt” to “back-door” his previous claims in direct violation of the District Court’s May 2023 order. Attorneys Tim Bosson and Arie Jones successfully argued Ms. Jahshan be fully compensated for the attorney’s fees she incurred defending against Pollack’s campaign. In total, BLG secured an award of almost $15,000.00 for Ms. Jahshan, which the District Court issued as a sanction against Pollack for his conduct.
For more details, see: Bradley Glenn Pollack v. Reem Jahshan, Record No. 1839-23-3. Virginia Court of Appeals; Reem Jahshan v. Antoine Baz, Case No. CL18001473-00. Circuit Court of Rockingham County; Bradley Glenn Pollack v. Reem Jahshan, Case No. 5:23-cv-004. United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, Harrisonburg Division.