“Of A Kind With That Of Countless Litigants”

Neither Rule 11 or inherent authority justified the award of sanction against a losing litigant, according to a decision issued today by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals

In sum, we cannot discern clear and convincing evidence in the record that Ms. Yeh’s actions in pursuing her case remotely resembled conduct we have previously affirmed as sanctionable. She perpetrated no flagrant fraud on the court, she did not wantonly disobey its orders, and she did not knowingly violate any professional ethical duties. Although we do not condone Ms. Yeh’s apparently halfhearted approach to the discovery process, her behavior overall appears of a kind with that of countless litigants in our courts who bring ill-supported claims under acrimonious conditions and ultimately lose on the merits—and far from the extraordinary circumstances or egregious misconduct that would justify invocation of the bad-faith exception. We conclude that the trial court’s finding of bad faith was clearly erroneous and consequently that the court abused its discretion in sanctioning Ms. Yeh under its inherent authority.

The case

Marianna Yeh sued Gary Hnath in Superior Court for a divorce, asserting that the two were in a common-law marriage. Mr. Hnath successfully moved for summary judgment and sought sanctions against Ms. Yeh in the form of attorneys’ fees. Citing Super. Ct. Dom. Rel. R. 11 and the court’s inherent authority, the Superior Court granted Mr. Hnath’s sanctions motion and ordered Ms. Yeh to pay over $70,000 in fees.

Associate Judge Easterly authored the opinion. (Mike Frisch)