Another Victory for Langbord Family in Illegal Confiscation Case

Fifteen months after a federal judge ruled that the Government violated the constitutional rights of the Langbord family of Philadelphia by illegally seizing from them ten exceptionally valuable 1933 Double Eagle gold coins, each of which is valued at several million dollars, the same judge rejected the Government's attempt to adopt a "heads we win, tails you lose" strategy at a forthcoming forfeiture trial at which the Government will bear the burden of proving that the Langbords' coins were stolen from the United States Mint more than 70 years ago. In a sharply worded opinion, Judge Legrome D. Davis held that there was "no support" for the Government's argument that the United States could be both the plaintiff and a claimant in a civil forfeiture proceeding. Judge Davis also denied the Government's bid to expand the case after nearly four years of litigation to include unnamed "John Doe" defendants -- a move that the Court held would result in significant prejudice to the Langbords. The Court also ruled that the Government could not assert a new common law claim against the Langbords that the Court determined was legally deficient, procedurally improper, and practically futile. The Government has until November 11 to file an amended forfeiture complaint stripped of the claims rejected by the Court.

The case is Langbord v. United States Department of the Treasury, No. 06-CV-05315 (E.D. Pa.). The Kramer Levin team is led by Litigation partners Barry H. Berke and Eric A. Tirschwell, who are assisted by partner Robin Wilcox and associate Theodore S. Hertzberg.