A federal appeals court panel has reversed a judge's decision to reprimand five attorneys, including the husband of an Arkansas Supreme Court justice, who he said had dismissed a case in order to find a court they believed would be more favorable.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel on Tuesday reversed the reprimand issued by Chief U.S. District Court Judge P.K. Holmes III last year. Holmes had reprimanded John Goodson - husband of state Supreme Court Justice Courtney Goodson; his law partner, Matt Keil; Jason Earnest Roselius of Oklahoma City; and Martin Weber Jr. and Richard Norman, both of Houston.
The reprimand stemmed from a class-action lawsuit against auto insurers that lawyers withdrew from Holmes' court in 2015 before refiling and settling in Polk County Circuit Court.
