Haynes v. City of San Francisco

by
Gregory Haynes was the counsel for the plaintiff in the underlying action. The district court (1) determined that Haynes continued pursuit of plaintiff's claims after it was clear the claims were frivolous and in bad faith, and (2) determined that the defendants had incurred excess costs and fees of over $360,000 due to Haynes' misconduct. The court imposed sanctions on Haynes in this amount pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1927, declining to consider Haynes's assertion that he could not possibly pay such an award. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals remanded for further proceedings, holding (1) a district court may reduce a section 1927 sanctions award in light of an attorney's inability to pay; and (2) because the district court appeared to believe it was without discretion to reduce the sanctions award on this ground and accordingly failed to consider whether to exercise that discretion, the case was remanded. View "Haynes v. City of San Francisco" on Justia Law