2.6 Type of Sanctions

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

2.6 TYPE OF SANCTIONS

2.601 Licensure. The Supreme Court has recognized that a court's inherent power to discipline an attorney practicing before it includes the power not only "to remove an attorney of record in a case." ¹³² In a proper case, a court may use its inherent powers to suspend or annul the license of

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an attorney practicing in a particular court. ¹³³ In Richmond Ass'n of Credit Men v. Bar Ass'n of Richmond, ¹³⁴ the court found

Since an attorney is an officer of the court, the latter possesses the inherent power to supervise his conduct, both in and out of court, to the point of reprimanding or even removing him from office for misconduct.

2.602 Monetary Sanctions. However, the trial court does not have the inherent power to punish an attorney for misconduct by assessing a monetary sanction consisting of an award of attorney fees and costs. ¹³⁵ Trial courts may only impose monetary sanctions against an attorney based on a statute or rule. ¹³⁶

The Virginia Supreme Court noted that it had earlier ruled in Lannon v. Lee Conner Realty Corp. ¹³⁷ that a circuit court did not, absent a statute or rule of court, have the power to award attorney fees against a litigant for misconduct under its inherent powers, notwithstanding federal cases to the contrary in the federal system.

In rejecting that a court has the inherent power to assess an award of attorney fees and costs, the Virginia Supreme Court quoted from a sister court's decision in Bauguess v. Paine, ¹³⁸ that "[i]t would be both unnecessary and unwise to permit trial courts to use fee awards as sanctions apart from those situations authorized by statute. If an attorney's conduct is disruptive of court processes or...