No Rule 11 In The Virgin Islands

The Virgin Islands Supreme Court has held that sanctions may not be imposed on the authority of FRCP Rule 11.

An attorney had appealed a fine imposed in a personal injury lawsuit.

Rohn maintains that the sanctions provisions of Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure do not apply to proceedings in the Superior Court. Rohn correctly notes that Superior Court Rule 29 provides that “Rules 10 and 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure as to form, signing and verification of pleadings and other papers shall apply.” See also Bryan v. Ponce, 51 V.I. 239, 250 & n.7 (V.I. 2009) (“Superior Court Rule 29 . . . expressly makes Federal Rule 11’s provisions regarding the signing of pleadings applicable to all pleadings filed in the Superior Court.”). According to Rohn, the fact that Superior Court Rule 29 expressly incorporates only the signature and verification provisions of Federal Rule 11—which are found, respectively, in Federal Rule 11(a) and 11(b)—necessarily means that the drafters of the Superior Court rules did not intend to incorporate Federal Rule 11(c), which pertains to sanctions. However, in its March 2, 2016 order, the Superior Court summarily held that the reference to Federal Rule 11 in Superior Court 29 was sufficient to specifically incorporate all of Federal Rule 11.

We agree with Rohn. “[I]n the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure . . . should represent rules of last resort rather than first resort, and should be invoked only when a thorough review of applicable Virgin Islands statutes, Superior Court rules, and precedents from this Court reveals the absence of any other procedure.” Sweeney v. Ombres, 60 V.I. 438, 442 (V.I. 2014). This Court has repeatedly observed that the incorporation of federal procedural rules by reference may constitute an unlawful delegation in violation of the Revised Organic Act of 1954. See, e.g., Vanterpool v. Gov’t of the V.I., 63 V.I. 563, 578-79 (V.I. 2015); Percival v. People, 62 V.I. 477, 486 n.1 (V.I. 2015). But even if this Court were to assume— without deciding—that a Superior Court rule may incorporate a federal procedural rule by reference, Superior Court Rule 29, by its own explicit terms, only incorporates Federal Rule 11 “as to form, signing and verification of pleadings and other papers.” It is not clear how this limited reference to Federal Rule 11 could be construed to incorporate the entirety of Federal Rule 11, including provisions that do not relate to form, signing, and verification of pleadings. 

The court declined to affirm the sanction on alternative grounds.

Justice Cabret concurred on the Rule 11 issue but

I agree with the majority that the Superior Court erred by relying on Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(c) to sanction attorney Rohn. I also agree with the majority that the Superior Court has both statutory and inherent authority to impose sanctions. I write separately because, unlike the majority, I believe that this Court, by relying on the Superior Court’s statutory and inherent authority to sanction, can affirm the court’s decision without disturbing its underlying factual grounds for sanctions, namely, Rohn’s blatant noncompliance with its lawful case-management deadline.

(Mike Frisch)