2.3 Parties Susceptible to Sanctions

• Library: Attorney Fees and Sanctions - Virginia and Federal Courts (Virginia CLE) (2016 Ed.)

2.3 PARTIES SUSCEPTIBLE TO SANCTIONS

2.301 Both Parties Partially Responsible. Section 8.01-271.1 applies only to parties and their attorneys, not to nonparties. ⁵⁷ When both parties are partially responsible for an offending document being filed, the court "determines the relative culpability of each person and apportions such sanctions among the offending persons in a manner that reflects the extent and result of each person's individual violations." ⁵⁸

2.302 "Coordinated Effort" Violations. When a sanctionable violation is "a coordinated effort," joint and several liability is entirely appropriate. ⁵⁹ The court found that the attorney and the party should be sanctioned where the action bore every earmark of a spite suit and the client was the catalyst behind the frivolous suit. ⁶⁰

2.303 Disregard of Counsel's Advice. Where a party litigant disregarded the advice of counsel and insisted on opposing a motion for a continuance for improper purposes, sanctions against the litigant under Section 8.01-271.1 were appropriate. ⁶¹

2.304 Spoliation of Evidence and False Deposition Testimony. A party's spoliation of evidence and false deposition testimony warrants sanctions against the litigant. ⁶² Sanctions against a litigant were appropriate where the litigant pled or made statements under oath that were at complete variance from his final position in the case and his testimony at the bench trial was incredible in the true sense of the term. ⁶³

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2.305 Failure to Provide Basis for Allocating Fault. Where the party and...