Issue: When a motion for Rule 11 sanctions is brought, must the motion allege that the attorney’s signature appears on the offending papers or will a typewritten name suffice?
| Area of Law: | Litigation & Procedure |
| Keywords: | Rule 11 motion; Attorney's signature or typewritten name; Describe specific conduct |
| Jurisdiction: | Federal |
| Cited Cases: | 64 F.3d 1330 |
| Cited Statutes: | Rule 11, Rule 11 (c)(1); Rule 11 (b) |
| Date: | 02/01/2001 |
Rule 11 (c)(1) provides that a motion for sanctions “shall describe the specific conduct alleged to violate subdivision (b).” Subdivision (b), however, prohibits only conduct that involves “presenting to the court (whether by signing, filing, submitting, or later advocating) a pleading, written motion or other paper.” A motion fails to comply with Rule 11 (c)(1) where a party fails to “describe the specific conduct” allegedly engaged in that violates 11 (b).
Under the former version of Rule 11, a name that was merely typed but not signed was not enough to subject the named attorney to Rule 11 sanctions. Triad Sys. Corp. v. Southeastern Express Co., 64 F.3d 1330, 1339 (9th Cir. 1995), cert. denied, 576 U.S. 1145, 116 S. Ct. 1015, 134 L. Ed. 2d 96 (1996). Under the present version of the Rule, it appears that a signature may not always be required to impose sanctions, but whether a typewritten name alone will suffice is unlikely. The Rule, as amended, makes sanctions applicable against those “presenting” offending papers including those “signing, filing, submitting or later advocating.” The Rule itself does not state and no case was found that holds that merely because an attorney’s name is typed on a document presented to the court, the attorney is subject to sanctions without more.
In addition, however, even if a typewritten name suffices to subject an attorney to sanctions, a party must describe how the cited paragraphs of the allegedly offensive document […]