Sanctions: Ninth Circuit Decides Sanctions Under 28 U.S.C. § 1927 Cannot Be Imposed Against A Law Firm

 

. . . However, Imposition Of Sanctions On Individual Attorneys Is Just Fine.

    Siding with the Seventh and Sixth Circuits, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Kaass Law v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., No. 13-56099 (9th Cir. Aug. 27, 2015) (published) reversed $8,480 in attorney’s fees sanctions imposed against a law firm.  Section 1927 authorizes sanctions against “[a]ny attorney or other person admitted to conduct cases in any court of the United States or any Territory.”  The Ninth Circuit found this only applies to individual lawyers, not firms.  In doing so, it did disagree with contrary reasoning in cases decided by Eleventh and Second Circuits.