A Philadelphia plaintiffs attorney must pay $32,756 in fees to opposing Ogletree Deakins lawyers after treating court orders as "optional."

U.S. District Judge Gerald J. Pappert of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania sanctioned solo practitioner Seth D. Carson of Carson Legal Group on Friday, after he failed to comply with at least three of the court's scheduling, discovery and pretrial orders while representing the plaintiff in an employment-discrimination suit against Tasty Baking Co., doing business as Tasty Cake. Pappert said Carson failed to substantially justify or dispute these violations, according to the memorandum filed Friday in Lynch v. Tasty Baking.