Nothing Civil In Civil Court As Schoolyard Brawl Breaks Out Between Attorneys In Rival Class Actions; Colleagues Jump Into Fray To Bust Up Donnybrook

In New Orleans, Louisiana, The Times Picayune reports :

• Two attorneys competing for clients, prestige and a bounty of legal fees opened a hearing at Orleans Parish Civil District Court [last week] with a schoolyard brawl that shocked the buttoned-up crowd and ended with one led away in handcuffs on charges of contempt.

• The courtroom was filled with the early morning murmur of shuffled papers and crinkled newspaper when fisticuffs broke out between attorneys Madro Bandaries and J. Robert Ates, who were pushing rival class-action suits about the late handling of insurance claims.

For more, see Brawl erupts between two lawyers at civil court.