But Malofiy just had a rather large setback in another case against a high-profile artist: Usher. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Malofiy was representing Dan Marino (not the legendary football player), who was suing Usher over the song "Bad Girl," which he originally co-wrote with his former songwriting partners William Guice and Dante Barton.

During the trial, however, Judge Diamond spoke against Malofiy in particular; filing a 22-page Sanctions Memorandum against him, saying that the "Defendants have shown clearly and convincingly that Attorney Francis Malofiy has acted disgracefully: lying to an unsophisticated, impoverished, unrepresented Defendant, thus convincing that Defendant to expose himself (probably baselessly) to substantial liability."

That "unrepresented Defendant" was William Guice, whom he reportedly duped, telling him, "Don't worry about it. [Marino] is not coming after you, it's everyone else," and then convinced Guice to sign an affidavit admitting he failed to give his client credit for writing and producing the song; he also recorded a conversation with him without his knowledge.

The Judge's memorandum also said, "Malofiy also needlessly increased discovery costs. Denying Plaintiff the 'fruits' of Malofiy's misconduct and requiring Malofiy to pay these increased costs are the least sanctions I can impose." He concluded, "Whether Malofiy should be removed from practice is a question properly answered in another forum."