5th Circuit Vacates Order of Monetary Sanctions

In Marlin v. Moody Nat. Bank, 2008 WL 2568823 (5th Cir. 2008), the Fifth Circuit held that a district court abused its discretion in ordering the plaintiffs to pay $640,000 in monetary sanctions because Fed. R. Civ. P. 11 was not followed. The district court erred in ordering sanctions when neither a motion had been filed nor a show cause order issued, and by imposing costs as “simple equity” rather than determining if Rule 11(b) had been violated. –Counseller/nc