Opinion
No. 83-1311.
Argued May 21, 1984.
Decided December 13, 1984. Rehearing and Rehearing In Banc Denied January 16, 1985.
James B. Sloan, (Argued) Sloan Associates, P.C., Chicago, Ill., for appellant.
Ira M. Millstein, Dennis J. Block, (Argued) Weil, Gotshal Manges, New York City, for Class Member objectors.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
OPINION OF THE COURT
James B. Sloan and Sloan and Associates, P.C., in this appeal from a final judgment awarding fees from a fund in court, contend that the district court erred in denying their motion to strike from a pleading a sham and false allegation containing a defamatory statement about James B. Sloan. The motion is addressed to a single line in a 522 page Report, which was filed by Weil, Gotshal Manges in support of objections by class members to various fee requests. The Report quotes from a memorandum of a June 16, 1981 telephone conversation between Harold Kohn and Lowell Sachnoff, which attributes the defamatory statement to Sachnoff.
We hold that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion to strike. The courts must for the most part rely upon the self-discipline of members of a learned profession for the avoidance of backbiting and the circulation of defamatory gossip. They must have discretion in determining when disputes over such matters are too trivial to warrant formal judicial attention.
The order denying the motion to strike will be affirmed.