The state Superior Court has affirmed nearly $35,000 in sanctions leveled against a White and Williams attorney over his actions in a medical malpractice arbitration.

The three-judge panel in Silberman v. Loguidice said Northampton County Court of Common Pleas Judge Paula A. Roscioli was correct in rejecting White and Williams attorney Daniel Ferhat's objections to her sanctions order against him. The Superior Court then simply adopted Roscioli's opinions in the case as its own.

Roscioli sanctioned Ferhat $34,646 for backing out of a scheduled arbitration and attempting to reinsert into the arbitration agreement terms that had previously been addressed, according to an opinion the judge issued in January 2014. The sanctions represented reimbursement for travel and arbitration expenses that plaintiffs in the underlying medical malpractice case and their counsel had incurred as well as costs for preparing for a second planned arbitration.