Rule 213.Signing Pleadings, Motions, and Other Papers; Representations to the Court; Sanctions

Rule 213 is Idaho family law's signature and sanctions rule.

Signature

Every pleading, written motion and other paper must be signed by at least one attorney of record licensed in Idaho, in that attorney's own name, or personally by an unrepresented party, and must state the signer's address, email and telephone number. Unless a rule or statute says otherwise, a pleading need not be verified or accompanied by an affidavit. The court must strike an unsigned paper unless the omission is promptly corrected once pointed out.

Electronic signatures may be used on any document transmitted electronically, and a notary's seal may be electronic. In civil protection order actions the petitioner may omit address, phone or email so long as it appears on the family law case information sheet.

What signing certifies

By presenting a paper — by signing, filing, submitting, or later advocating it — an attorney or unrepresented party certifies, after an inquiry reasonable under the circumstances, that it is not presented for an improper purpose such as harassment, delay, or needlessly increasing cost; that the legal contentions are warranted by existing law or a nonfrivolous argument to change it; that factual contentions have evidentiary support, or are identified as likely to after further investigation; and that denials are warranted on the evidence or identified as based on belief or lack of information.

Note "later advocating." A position that becomes untenable cannot keep being urged.

Sanctions, and the safe harbor

On finding a violation after notice and a reasonable opportunity to respond, the court must impose an appropriate sanction on the attorney, law firm or party responsible — and a law firm may be held jointly responsible for its partner's, associate's or employee's violation.

A motion for sanctions must be made separately from any other motion and describe the specific conduct. It is served under Rule 205 but must not be filed or presented to the court if the challenged paper, claim, defense, contention or denial is withdrawn or appropriately corrected within 21 days after service, or within another time the court sets. That 21-day window is the safe harbor: the motion must be served first and filed only if the problem is not fixed. The court may award the prevailing party on the motion its reasonable expenses, including attorney fees and costs.

The court may also act on its own by ordering a party to show cause. A sanction may include payment of the other party's reasonable expenses and attorney fees, and nonmonetary directives. Any order imposing a sanction must describe the conduct and explain the basis.

Two boundaries

The court may refer to the administrative district judge the question whether to declare a person a vexatious litigant under I.C.A.R. 59. And this rule does not apply to disclosures and discovery — requests, responses, objections and motions under Part IV, which has its own sanctions in Rule 417.