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Stephen Orlofsky, a U.S. District Court judge, gave Marlton, NJ, attorney Frank Branella an unusual penalty for concluding a time-barred medical malpractice case as one of federal RICO and civil rights. (Balthazar v. Atlantic City Medical Center, 02-1136) Instead of depriving the attorney of payments, Judge Orlofsky decreed that Branella needs to attend courses in order to acquaint himself with ethics and professionalism. The judge said he imposed the sanction after giving Branella a written warning of his possible violation of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11 (b)(2), which requires an assertion regarding the factual and legal circumstances of their claims. Branella had a state court medical malpractice case was dismissed by Atlantic Superior Court Judge Carol Higbee in 2001. The Balthazar federal suit was opened by Branella in 2000, and it charged a hospital and three doctors with falsification, concealment of negligence and federal and state RICO law violations. Although the federal suit was dismissed, Branella was granted leave to amend his complaint. However, the judge was not happy with the revision, claming that, along other things, it was often beyond comprehension. The attorney must take the courses within the next 12 months, and then he needs to file a court affidavit to affirm his successful completion. No comment was made by Branella except that he plans to appeal both the case's dismissal and the sanctions' imposition.

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