(Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Friday upheld the bulk of sanctions imposed against Sidney Powell and other lawyers who sued to overturn President Joe Biden's 2020 victory in Michigan.

The 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found that the allegations of electoral fraud Powell and others had pushed were baseless, frivolous or even refuted by their own filings.

The court held that Powell and five other lawyers — Howard Kleinhendler, Julia Zsuzsa Haller, Scott Hagerstrom, Brandon Johnson and Gregory Rohl — must pay a total of more than $152,000 in sanctions, a reduction from the $175,000 penalty initially imposed on them.

Powell and other lawyers alleged massive election fraud in battleground states that Biden won. The lawsuit from Powell, Kleinhendler, Haller, Hagerstrom, Johnson and Rohl sought to declare then-President Donald Trump winner of Michigan's presidential election.

U.S. District Judge Linda Parker in Detroit rejected Powell's lawsuit in December 2020, saying it was filled with "speculation and conjecture that votes for President Trump were destroyed, discarded or switched."

The lower court judge sanctioned lawyers Powell and her cohort of lawyers, along with L. Lin Wood, Emily Newman and Stefanie Junttila in December 2021 for bringing the case, calling it "a historic and profound abuse of the judicial process."

In addition to the fine, for which the lawyers were found jointly and severally liable, the lower court judge ordered them to complete 12 hours of continuing legal education classes.

The appellate court partially reduced the $175,000 fine, determining that the lower court awarded the city of Detroit and Michigan state officials legal fees for work "that bore little connection to sanctionable conduct in this case."

As a result, the total monetary sanction against Powell, Kleinhendler, Haller, Hagerstrom, Johnson and Rohl was reduced to $152,000.

The 6th Circuit panel dismissed the sanctions against Newman and Junttila, finding they did little work on the "frivolous claims," even though Newman's name was on the original complaint. Junttila began representing Powell after the suit was filed.

But the 6th Circuit panel kept some of the sanctions against Wood, finding that although he claimed he did no work on the lawsuit and that his name was added without his permission, he trumpeted his involvement in the case both in court and on social media.

But the panel reduced Wood's monetary sanction further to $132,800, after finding that lawyers representing Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson did not request sanctions against him.

Paul Stablein, a Michigan lawyer representing Wood, said he disagreed with the court's conclusion that "Mr. Wood had anything to do with the drafting or filing of the complaint in Michigan."

Powell and Junttila did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did lawyers for Newman and the city of Detroit. A spokesperson for the Michigan attorney general's office said it is reviewing the decision.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Thomson Reuters

David Thomas reports on the business of law, including law firm strategy, hiring, mergers and litigation. He is based out of Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter @DaveThomas5150.