Should I file Federal Rule 11 sanctions against opposing side for bad behavior, obstruction, false statements,etc..

[zenoMorph]

Is this a divorce?

No, its small business vs medium/large business. The truth is very damaging to the opposing side so they don't want the actual story to get out.

 

[quincy]

Here is a link to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See Rule 37.

https://www.federalrulesofcivilprocedure.org/frcp/

 

[zenoMorph]

You can prove the opposing side knew what was said was untrue, or simply that it was untrue? There is a big difference there. Rule 11 specifies that pleadings and motions are signed with the effect that the attorney or party certifies certain things "to the best of the person's knowledge, information, and belief, formed after an inquiry reasonable under the circumstances". So if the opposing party/attorney believe it to be true it is not a Rule 11 violation even if you can prove it to be untrue.



Rule 11, as quincy points out, doesn't cover discovery. Also, the rule doesn't ban "playing games" so long as the party is not doing it solely to delay, harass, or run up the costs of the other side.



You'd state the facts upon which you rely in your motion. If the court needs to see evidence to support the motion, it will schedule a hearing, and you'd present your evidence at the hearing.



Unfortunately that is not all that unusual in litigation and the system tolerates a certain amount of it.

1. What if the "playing games" was done for the sole purpose to delay, harass and run up the cost?
2. I have a very long list of item I can prove were untrue. I have a shorter list of items which can be proved untrue and that they knew it was untrue.
My followup question is when you say "they" are you talking about the opposing side(in my case a company) or the attorney they hired? They may have hired an attorney who setup to lie and editorialize a false yet hypothetical pausing narrative about us in order to get case throw out quickly.

If you are asking about the company itself, they knew very well the information I said in the complaint was correct and the information they provided in the various motions get the case thrown out was incorrect. If their attorney is just an ignorant puppet used to get our case thrown out on knowing bad information? I'm not sure what conversations the opposing side had with their attorney and I sure they would claim privilege.

3. Can the motion be Rule 11 motion be amended. I believe as more information comes out on discovery, the list of lies they told will increase more and more.

4. Does the same Judge for the case handle and Rule 11 sanctions

5. Does that setup almost like a separate mini trial that runs parallel to the main proceedings?

6. How long does that process normally take?

 

[quincy]

Is your case in the Discovery stage right now? If so, Rule 11 does not apply.

You really should find an attorney local to you to assist you.

 

[Taxing Matters]

1. What if the "playing games" was done for the sole purpose to delay, harass and run up the cost?

Then that violates both the rules of professional conduct for lawyers and might implicate Rule 11 if it involved a pleading, motion, or other paper filed with the court. The problem is proving that it is the sole reason for doing it. If the lawyer is at all good he or she will be able to provide a plausible valid reason for each action taken in the case. For example, a motion is filed that to you looks ridiculous because you think it has no chance to succeed. But if the lawyer can offer something to show that it had some chance of success, even if that chance is pretty low, that's likely to pass muster. The rules are not meant to punish a party or its lawyer for pursuing something that they think might succeed, even though that chance is low. If the rules did that, a lot of novel legal arguments that have succeeded over the years never could have been done. Sure, that also means that it allows engaging in some games, too, when used more for delay or to run up cost, but the rules tend to err on the side of allowing parties freedom to make those novel arguments rather than shutting down all the things that have small chance of success.

My followup question is when you say "they" are you talking about the opposing side(in my case a company) or the attorney they hired?

If you look at the rule closely, you will see that Rule 11 is directed at the person who signs the pleading or motion. If the a party is represented, it is the lawyer that signs the motion or pleading. So it it matters what the lawyer knew when he or she signed the paper that is filed with the court. So if the lawyer's client lied to the lawyer or gave the lawyer wrong or incomplete information, the lawyer is not responsible for that and there is no Rule 11 violation. That said, the rule also says the lawyer is expected to have made a "reasonable inquiry" into the matter, so the lawyer may not simply turn a blind eye to what are the real facts of the matter or intentionally fail to ask the client or otherwise inquire as to what the truth is when filing the paper with the court.

3. Can the motion be Rule 11 motion be amended. I believe as more information comes out on discovery, the list of lies they told will increase more and more.

You may file successive Rule 11 motions. But be careful here. If you start claiming that lots of what the other side is doing violates Rule 11 and the other party's lawyer has those plausible explanations, you're going to tick off the judge. It takes something pretty blatant to run afoul of the rule. You might have a lawyer who practices in federal court look over the things you think might be Rule 11 violations for an objective assessment of whether you might have a shot at succeeding. Rule 11 motions should not be made lightly; they are serious allegations.

4. Does the same Judge for the case handle and Rule 11 sanctions

Yes. The judge assigned the case is the one who will rule on any Rule 11 motion.

5. Does that setup almost like a separate mini trial that runs parallel to the main proceedings?

If the judge needs to hear evidence or get oral argument on the motion, he or she will schedule a hearing on the matter. If an evidentiary hearing is held, you could describe that as like a mini-trial as most of the same rules that apply to a trial apply to those hearings, too. Obviously, though, the hearing is not held in front of a jury.

6. How long does that process normally take?

There is no standard time frame. It's completely up to the judge when to deal with the motion.

 

[Mass_Shyster]

You guys are my attorneys

And worth every penny

 

[quincy]

And worth every penny

I was going to say that I think he is screwed. Haha.

In what stage of the case are you, zenoMorph? Could you give a more specific example of one of the "games" being played, one of the motions filed by the opposing party (absent identifying information)?

 

[NeilTheCop]

You guys are my attorneys

If that's true, throw yourself on the mercy of the court, it's you best option

 

[quincy]

Here are links to the federal case related threads started by zenoMorph:

https://forum.freeadvice.com/threads/is-there-a-way-to-gain-access-to-web-based-e-mail-account-gmail-yahoo-hotmail-etc-using-the-court.655713/
https://forum.freeadvice.com/threads/can-you-send-a-federal-subpoena.655701/
zenoMorph, please keep all of your federal law questions to a single thread and please keep all of your state law questions to a single thread. Thanks.

 

[zenoMorph]

I was going to say that I think he is screwed. Haha.

In what stage of the case are you, zenoMorph? Could you give a more specific example of one of the "games" being played, one of the motions filed by the opposing party (absent identifying information)?

So this Epstein-like character claims to the judge that he is an innocent 3rd party and has nothing to do with the company however we have documents showing he admitted to be a partial owner of the company and maybe more than a part owner when the majority owner committed suicide.

 

[FlyingRon]

You guys are my attorneys

In that case, many of us are bound to recuse ourselves from the public discussion.

 

[quincy]

So this Epstein-like character claims to the judge that he is an innocent 3rd party and has nothing to do with the company however we have documents showing he admitted to be a partial owner of the company and maybe more than a part owner when the majority owner committed suicide.

You present your evidence in court and let it do the talking.

Again, I recommend you find a local lawyer. If you have a law school near to you, you might find a law clinic or kindly law professor willing to offer you some direction.

Good luck.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

So this Epstein-like character

I certainly wouldn't go around saying that about him.

 

[quincy]

I certainly wouldn't go around saying that about him.

Yup. A defamation suit is liable to complicate matters for zenoMorph.