4.1 Basis for Sanctions and General Considerations

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

4.1 BASIS FOR SANCTIONS AND GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

4.101 In General. In a proper case, attorney fees may be assessed against counsel under 28 U.S.C. § 1927, Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, or under the inherent power of the court. ¹ A lawyer must always remember that he or she is an officer of the court. His or her client may be zealously represented, but only within the bounds of those rules. ²

The Fourth Circuit emphatically rejects "any suggestion that a lawyer may shield his transgressions behind the simplistic plea that he only did what his client desired." ³ Moreover, where a lawyer's conduct satisfies the standard for assessing fees, he or she does not escape liability just because his or her client's behavior was even worse. ⁴

4.102 American Rule. However, the Fourth Circuit has emphasized the "deeply rooted" history and importance of preserving the "American Rule," the rule that parties bear their own attorney fees, that statutory fee-shifting provisions are to be strictly construed, and that Congress has not extended any "roving authority to the Judiciary to allow counsel fees . . . whenever the courts might deem them warranted." ⁵

The United...