The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a rare reversal of an order that had denied what could be more than $300,000 in attorney fees and expenses to a successful libel defendant.

In the panel opinion issued March 7, the court said Chief Judge Jack T. Camp of the Northern District of Georgia abused his discretion by declining to sanction the plaintiffs after he dismissed their suit against Carrollton, Ga., businesswoman Elizabeth L. Enney.