Chapter 8 - 8.8 Contempt

• Jurisdiction: Virginia

8.8 CONTEMPT

A trial court's inherent power to issue sanctions does not include the power to issue monetary sanctions unless the authority to do so is granted by a statute or a rule.¹⁹ Similarly, the court should identify the authority under which such sanctions against an attorney are being issued. In Ragland v. Soggin,²⁰ the trial court had imposed monetary sanctions against two attorneys for errors that were made in a jury instruction. The Virginia Supreme Court held that, because no statutory authority...