"[T]he Court concludes that it is manifestly within the scope of the Monitor’s powers to recommend to the Court that a show cause order be issued, if the Monitor has reason to believe that counsel has violated any law, including the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the District of Columbia Rules of Professional Conduct.9 Taking into account the recent conduct of defense counsel, the Court considers the authority of the Monitor to file such a report and
recommendation to constitute a necessary corrective to any unethical or obstructive behavior engaged in by counsel during discovery proceedings." Id. at 23.

"The correspondence between the Monitor and defense counsel demonstrates that in response to the Monitor’s repeated requests for documents to assist him in his monitoring duties, defense counsel repeatedly stonewalled in response to the Monitor’s requests and challenged the Monitor’s legitimate authority, prior to filing the motion for a protective order. Additionally, during the course of a deposition ordered by this Court, defense counsel repeatedly made baseless assertions of attorneyclient privilege, ignoring the finding of the Special Master-Monitor that plaintiffs’ questions were

appropriate, in an attempt to obstruct plaintiffs’ legitimate inquiry into whether her co-counsel had lied to the Court during a recent hearing. It was this unethical conduct that led the Monitor to propose the rule that defendants have challenged in the motion presently before the Court. In short, the filing of defendants’ motion represents the culmination of a series of displays of obstinacy, recalcitrance, and unprincipled behavior on the part of defense counsel.