DONNA THORNTON, Plaintiff, v. GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellee, VERSUS BERNEY L. STRAUSS, Movant-Appellant., 136 F.3d 450

Summary

On appeal from a sanction order against appellant attorney, the court reversed and vacated, holding that where sanctions were imposed under Fed. R. Civ. P. 11(c)(1)(B) by a district court on its own initiative, neither an award of attorney fees nor suspension from practice before the court constituted a valid sanction. An award of attorney fees was authorized only if imposed on motion and warranted for effective deterrence. Fed. R. Civ. P. 11 (c)(2). Further, when a district court found that a disciplinary sanction more severe than admonition, reprimand, or censure under Rule 11 was warranted, the matter should be referred to the appropriate disciplinary authorities. Thus, even if the notice and due process requirements of Rule 11(c)(1)(B) had been followed, the order suspending appellant from practice and attorney fees award would have been improper. The district court entered a show cause order that did not describe the specific conduct for which it subsequently sanctioned appellant ...