Chartwell Law Offices has been freed from a contempt order over a former client's legal records, after a federal judge found the firm was willing to comply with records requests, and simply never received instruction on which materials were privileged.

In an order filed May 4, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said he found that Chartwell never intentionally withheld court records related to former client Paul Baxendale-Walker.

“To the contrary, Chartwell was ready and willing to timely comply with the May 29, 2015, subpoena by letter to plaintiff's counsel, identifying the documents in [Kenneth] Dubrow's possession together with a privilege log based on attorney-client privilege until he was repeatedly instructed by [Baxendale-Walker's new lawyer Matheiu] Shapiro not to do so,” Schmehl said.

Marks & Sokolov and Chartwell Law Offices argued in multiple letters to Schmehl about who should provide the material needed to execute a summary judgment on Baxendale-Walker, a onetime client of both firms. Schmehl found Chartwell Law in contempt for failing to produce documents, but Chartwell argued that the court should vacate its order and give Chartwell more time to find its records.

Schmehl ordered Chartwell to pay $1,250 in attorney fees related to the contempt motion, as well as additional sanctions.

Chartwell said it did not provide the documents because the firm no longer represents Baxendale-Walker, and because Baxendale-Walker's new counsel, Mathieu Shapiro of Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel, told Chartwell not to provide certain documents because they were privileged. Marks & Sokolov has argued in its own letters that those reasons were not sufficient for failing to provide the nonprivileged subpoenaed materials, which include Baxendale-Walker's medical records.

Chartwell's Kenneth Dubrow withdrew his appearance in June 2015, the same day that Shapiro entered his own, court records show.

According to an August opinion from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Shahrokh Mireskandari and Baxendale-Walker hired Bruce Marks of Marks & Sokolov to represent them in a civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act matter in California. But they failed to pay Marks for his legal services, so Marks & Sokolov sued its clients for breach of contract and quantum meruit.

After Marks & Sokolov sued, Mireskandari and Baxendale-Walker failed to file an answer to the complaint. So the district court entered summary judgment of nearly $230,000.

Mireskandari and Baxendale-Walker appealed the summary judgment, but while that appeal was pending, the district court also found Baxendale-Walker in contempt for refusing to comply with execution discovery orders. Baxendale-Walker appealed the contempt order as well.

In August, the Third Circuit affirmed both the summary judgment order and the contempt order.

After the Third Circuit ruled, the district court entered an order Nov. 6 holding Baxendale-Walker in contempt once again, and issuing a warrant for his arrest. According to that order, Baxendale-Walker must pay more than $220,000, plus $12,000 in attorney fees, to purge his contempt order. The court has ordered him to pay $250 per day in fines, including $237,500 that had already accumulated as of Oct. 16.

In a separate Nov. 6 order, the court gave Chartwell five days to produce the documents in full, or else be fined $250 per day. In addition, the court ordered Chartwell to cover the $1,250 in attorney fees required to bring the contempt motion.

“Neither plaintiff's counsel nor Shapiro ever advised Dubrow if they had reached an agreement on the privilege issues,” Schmehl wrote. “Instead, Dubrow was served by plaintiff's counsel with a motion to find Chartwell in contempt for failing to comply with the May 29, 2015, subpoena.”

Dubrow, of Chartwell, did not respond to a call seeking comment Tuesday. Neither did Tom Sullivan of Marks & Sokolov, who is representing his firm in the matter.