Chapter 18 - § 18.4 • ATTORNEY FEES UNDER C.R.C.P. 11

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 18.4 • ATTORNEY FEES UNDER C.R.C.P. 11

Rule 11 of the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure requires an attorney's signature on every pleading. It also states that when an attorney signs a pleading he or she certifies that the pleading

is well grounded in fact and is warranted by existing law or a good faith argument for the extension, modification, or reversal of existing law, and that it is not interposed for any improper purpose, such as to harass or to cause unnecessary delay or needless increase in the cost of litigation.⁴⁹

If a pleading is signed in violation of Rule 11, the court may award reasonable expenses to the other party, including attorney fees incurred because of the filing of the pleading.⁵⁰ The attorney fee clause of Rule 11 can be invoked either by the court on its own initiative or by a party's motion.⁵¹ However, attorney fees will not be awarded if the party that filed a pleading in violation of Rule 11 voluntarily dismisses or withdraws the pleading within a reasonable time after the attorney or party knew the party would not prevail on the claim.⁵²

A court can award attorney fees on the basis that a signed pleading fails to meet a test of objective reasonableness without showing that an attorney acted in bad faith.⁵³ An attorney may violate Rule 11 simply by failing to conduct an objectively reasonable inquiry before filing a signed pleading or by filing a pleading for an improper purpose.⁵⁴ For an attorney to comply with Rule 11, under this objectively reasonable inquiry standard, the attorney must have a reasonable belief that the pleading is well grounded in fact, that the legal theory asserted in the pleading is based on existing legal principles or a good faith argument for modification of existing law, and that the pleading is not filed for the purpose of causing delay, harassment, or to increase the cost of litigation.⁵⁵

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Notes:

^[49] C.R.C.P. 11(a).

^[50] Id.

^[51] Id.

^[52] Id.

^[53] In re Trupp, 92 P.3d 923, 930 (Colo. 2004); Stepanek v. Delta County, 940 P.2d 364, 370 (Colo. 1997).

^[54] In re Trupp, 92 P.3d at 930.

^[55] Id. at 928.