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A Pima County Superior Court judge has ordered Tucson attorney Harold Hyams to pay $750,000 to the lawyers for an East Side apartment complex he sued on behalf of tenants complaining about mold problems.

Judge John Davis ruled that Hyams "unreasonably expanded and delayed litigation" in the case.

Hyams said he is "terribly disappointed and upset" with the ruling. "You can be sure I'll be doing what has to be done," he said.

Nearly five years ago, Hyams filed lawsuits against Wasatch Property Management, Creekside Place Holdings and Randy and Dell Loy Hansen on behalf of more than 100 people who claimed they were sickened by rampant mold growing at the Eastside Place Apartments.

The lawsuits also alleged that two infants died within 12 days of each other as a result of the mold at the 444-unit complex, which is now called The Overlook at Pantano.

Over the years, Hyams and attorneys for the defendants filed so many documents it became one of the largest ongoing cases in Pima County Superior Court.

Last summer, defense attorneys asked Davis to make Hyams pay their legal fees after the judge threw out much of Hyams' evidence and essentially dismissed most of his clients from the lawsuit.

The defense attorneys argued they had tried for months to settle the lawsuit, but Hyams refused and purposely dragged out the case by filing countless frivolous and untimely motions.

The attorneys pointed out Hyams had already been held in contempt by the Arizona Court of Appeals and ordered to pay more than $20,000 in sanctions and fines by the Court of Appeals and three judges.

The Court of Appeals also ordered Hyams to attend State Bar courses on professionalism.

According to the court file, not only did Hyams repeatedly ask judges to reconsider their decisions, but he was also fined for showing up late and making misrepresentations.

Hyams also raised the judges' ire and was fined for trying to amend his lawsuit seven times. Four amendments were rejected because he added plaintiffs and defendants without permission, changed his legal arguments or included plaintiffs who had already been dismissed.

In one instance, he had to amend the suit because he forgot to mention the dead babies.

A member of the judiciary also filed a complaint with the State Bar of Arizona against Hyams. It was unclear Monday what the status of that investigation is.

On Friday, Davis filed his ruling on attorneys' fees.

In the ruling, Davis wrote: "This case became, to an extraordinary extent, about Mr. Hyams' behavior, omissions and mistakes rather than about the merit of the plaintiffs' claims.

"The court also notes, in support of this find, the extensive record of Mr. Hyams' misstatements of the record in oral argument, motion papers, statements of fact and motions for reconsideration."

The judge ordered Hyams to pay the Phoenix law firm of Jennings, Strouss and Salmon $200,000. The Tucson law firm of Rusing and Lopez is to receive $500,000 and the Hansen brothers are to receive $50,000.

The $31,839 Hyams has already paid in sanctions will be deducted from the overall amount, Davis said.

Attorney Andrew Turk of Jennings, Strouss and Salmon declined to comment Monday.

"These are extraordinary awards, but the record in this case supports them," Davis wrote. "Mr. Hyams' misconduct impacted every aspect of this case from its commencement up to this point."