Rule 11 - Next Generation Bar Exam
- When may a party file a Rule 11 sanctions motion?
- Only after serving it and waiting 21 days without the challenged paper being withdrawn or corrected. The safe-harbor period gives the opponent a chance to cure the violation.
- In what form must a Rule 11 sanctions motion be made?
- Separately from any other motion, describing the specific conduct alleged to violate the rule. A Rule 11 request may not be tacked onto another motion.
- What standard governs whether an attorney's conduct violates Rule 11?
- Objective reasonableness under the circumstances. Subjective good faith does not excuse a paper that a reasonable attorney would not have filed.
- What is the stated purpose and limit of a Rule 11 sanction?
- Deterring repetition of the conduct, limited to what suffices for that purpose. Sanctions may be nonmonetary, a penalty paid into court, or, on motion, the movant's reasonable fees.
- Under Rule 11, what conduct after filing can itself violate the rule?
- Later advocating a contention in a paper after learning that it lacks merit. Presenting a paper includes signing, filing, submitting, or later advocating it.
- Absent exceptional circumstances, who must be held jointly responsible for a Rule 11 violation committed by its attorney?
- The attorney's law firm. Rule 11 places responsibility on firms for violations by their partners, associates, or employees.
- Under Rule 11(b), what does an attorney certify by presenting a paper to the court?
- After reasonable inquiry: no improper purpose, warranted legal contentions, and factual contentions with likely support. Denials of factual contentions must also be warranted on the evidence or reasonably based on belief or lack of information.
- Against whom may a court not impose monetary sanctions for a legal contention that is not warranted by law?
- A represented party. Responsibility for frivolous legal contentions rests with the attorney.
- How may a court raise a possible Rule 11 violation on its own?
- By ordering the attorney or party to show cause why the conduct has not violated Rule 11. The safe-harbor period does not apply to court-initiated proceedings.
- Which papers are excluded from Rule 11?
- Discovery disclosures, requests, responses, objections, and motions. Discovery papers are governed by Rule 26(g) and Rule 37 instead.
- An attorney files a complaint alleging that the defendant owns a property without checking public land records, which show someone else owns it. What Rule 11 requirement has the attorney violated?
- The duty to make a reasonable inquiry into the factual contentions. An easily verified fact that a reasonable inquiry would have disproved lacks evidentiary support.