Steven Hollman, Stride’s lead counsel, said he hoped the court’s sanctions would deter future frivolous litigation.
The Florida Virtual School (FLVS) in Orlando and its attorneys have been sanctioned to the tune of $1.3 million for pursuing damages claims in a long-running trademark infringement case that a federal judge termed frivolous and abusive.
Judge Gregory A. Presnell of the Middle District of Florida issued the order on July 14 against attorneys for FLVS and several law firms – Luther Law PLLC and Rumberger, Kirk & Caldwell PA, which are headquartered in Orlando, and Jacksonville-based Bishop & Page PLLC. The order comes after a finding in April that FLVS’s pursuit of nationwide damages against Stride Inc., one of FLVS’s private competitors, was frivolous and sanctionable under Rule 11 of the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure.
Under that rule, a court can impose sanctions against a party that it finds has engaged in bad-faith litigation, which includes making arguments that are “legally frivolous” or “factually misleading.”
FLVS, a virtual school funded by the state, pursued its trademark-infringement case against Stride for 5 ½ years. Presnell characterized the school’s legal tactics during the prolonged litigation as abusive.
In a footnote in the July 14 order, the judge described the plaintiff’s prosecution of its lawsuit as “more akin to a ‘trademark bully’ harassing a competitor than a party seeking reasonable redress for any harm caused by defendants.”
Presnell said FLVS’s legal team’s efforts to establish nationwide damages claims – amounting to $6 billion – were lacking in evidence showing the school had suffered financial harm and characterized by belligerence. Stride was victorious at trial in 2023 and in a subsequent 11th Circuit Court of Appeals decision, according to a news release from the Sheppard international law firm, which represented Stride in the lawsuit.
FLVS said school officials were disappointed by the federal district court decision. In a statement emailed to the Florida Record, FLVS said school officials are reviewing the ruling but have not made any decisions about potential next steps.
“As an educational institution, we have a responsibility to protect our students and our organization, and we take trademark infringement seriously,” the statement says. “Protecting our brand helps ensure families can clearly distinguish between school choice options and select the program that best meets their child’s needs.”
In his breakdown of the sanctions, Presnell said Stride’s legal team was entitled to attorney fees of nearly $911,000 and costs amounting to more than $401,000. The judge’s order also identified several individual attorneys who would not be liable for sanctions in excess of $25,000 and several who could not be sanctioned above $1,000.
In addition, Luther Law “shall not be liable for any sum in excess of $25,000,” Presnell said.
The judge appeared exasperated at certain times by the repeated actions by the plaintiff and its legal team.
“As the court has come to expect in this case, plaintiff and its counsel responded by providing enough briefing in opposition to the (April) sanctions order to fill a bookcase, only to render the lion’s share of it redundant by the end of the (evidentiary) hearing on June 25th,” Presnell said.
Stride’s lead counsel, Steven Hollman, expressed satisfaction with the federal court’s decision.
“We appreciate the court’s opinion which reaffirms the proposition that in any case – whether routine or exceptional – civil litigants and the court need to be protected from abusive claims that are not well-founded in fact or warranted by existing law,” Hollman said in a prepared statement. “Hopefully, these sanctions will serve to deter FLVS and its various many counsel from frivolous litigation in the future.”
