The D.C. Court of Appeals has upheld civil contempt sanctions against veteran landlord-tenant lawyer Kenneth Loewinger.
In 2006, Loewinger and his firm, Loewinger & Brand, had been held in contempt by D.C. Superior Court Judge Neal Kravitz for ignoring a court order forbidding Loewinger’s former client Lanier Associates from collecting rent from tenants in an apartment building in Northwest Washington. At the time, Lanier owed more than $30,000 in unpaid bills to Washington Gas Light Co. and a Superior Court judge had appointed a receiver to collect rent money from tenants.
On behalf of his client, Loewinger filed suit against tenant Clement Stokes in June 2005, seeking payment for about $45,000 that Stokes had allegedly failed to pay in rent. Kravitz ruled that the suit against Stokes violated both the court order and D.C. law because Lanier was in receivership.
Loewinger, his firm, and Lanier Associates later settled with Stokes, agreeing to reimburse him for the $45,000 in unpaid rent and for the legal fees Stokes had incurred defending against the lawsuit. Stokes was represented by Covington & Burling partners Anthony Herman and Emily Johnson Henn at the trial level.
In oral arguments before the D.C. Court of Appeals made on March 6, 2008, Loewinger’s lawyers said they shouldn't be subject to sanctions because the terms of the 2001 receivership order were ambiguous and did not prohibit them from filing the non-payment suit.
Kravitz dismissed the sanctions after the 2005 settlement agreement. But according to a footnote in the D.C. Court of Appeals July 30 opinion, because Loewinger “is still exposed to disciplinary action and reputational damages,” the appeals court examined whether Kravitz erred by holding Loewinger and his firm in contempt.
The unanimous opinion, written by Judge Noël Anketell Kramer and joined by Judge Inez Smith Reid and Senior Judge Frank Schwelb, says Kravitz acted appropriately by leveling sanctions against Loewinger and his firm. “Because appellant’s actions were in plain violation of the statute, and the receivership order (and, indeed, of the delegation agreement itself), the sanctions imposed by the Superior Court were proper,” Kramer writes in her opinion.
"The judgment of the Court of Appeals that Judge Kravitz's opinion was scholarly and right is exactly the correct decision. An evidentiary hearing clearly showed that the lawyers and the landlord had defied both the statute and a clear order of the court," Herman said.
Loewinger has been a member of the D.C. Bar since 1971. His book “Loewinger on D.C. Landlord and Tenant Law” is sold by the Bar Association of the District of Columbia and has been given to judges in the Landlord and Tenant Branch of Superior Court.
In 2006, D.C. Bar Counsel issued issued Loewinger a separate informal admonition for failing to effectively supervise a paralegal while he was retained to represent a client in the purchase of three tax sale certificates.
Loewinger did not immediately return calls for comment. His attorney Robert Corn-Revere, a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine, declined to comment. Samuel Shapiro, a solo practitioner in Rockville, Md. who argued on behalf of the firm, also did not immediately return calls for comment.
Comments