Rule 11.Signing of Pleadings and Motions

Good faith and professional responsibility are the bases of Rule 11. Rule 8(b), for instance, authorizes the use of a general denial “subject to the obligations set forth in Rule 11,” meaning only when counsel can in good faith fairly deny all the averments in the adverse pleading should he do so.

Verification will be the exception and not the rule to pleading in Mississippi. No pleading or petition need be verified or accompanied by affidavit unless there is a specific provision to that effect in a rule or statute. See, e.g., M.R.C.P. 27(a) and 65.

The final sentence of Rule 11(b) is intended to ensure that the trial court has sufficient power to deal forcefully and effectively with parties or attorneys who may misuse the liberal, notice pleadings system effectuated by these rules. The Rule authorizes a court to award a party reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses when an adverse party “files a motion or pleading which, in the opinion of the court, is frivolous or is filed for the purpose of harassment or delay.” Thus, Rule 11 provides two alternative grounds for the imposition of sanctions—the filing of a frivolous motion or pleading, and the filing of a motion or pleading for the purpose of harassment or delay. See Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co. v. Evans, 553 So. 2d 1117, 1120 (Miss. 1989). Although a finding of bad faith is necessary to sustain the imposition of sanctions based on purposeful harassment or delay, a finding of bad faith is not necessary to sustain the imposition of sanctions based upon frivolous pleadings or motions. A pleading or motion is frivolous “only when, objectively speaking, the pleader or movant has no hope of success.” See In re Spencer, 985 So. 2d 330, 339 (Miss. 2008). A pleading is “frivolous” if its “insufficiency…is so manifest upon a bare inspection of the pleadings, that the court or judge is able to determine its character without argument or research.” In re Estate of Smith, 69 So. 3d 1, 6 (Miss. 2011). A defensive pleading is not frivolous unless “conceding it to be true does not, taken as a whole, contain any defense to any part of complainant’s cause of action and its insufficiency as a defense is so glaring that the Court can determine it upon a bare inspection without argument.” In re Estate of Smith, 69 So. 3d at 6.

Sanctions against a party are improper in cases where the party relied strictly on advice of counsel and could not be expected to know whether the complaint was supported by law, where the party relied on advice of counsel in filing the pleading and played no significant role in prosecution of the action; or where the party was unaware and lacked responsibility for any bad faith harassment or delay. See Stevens v. Lake, 615 So. 2d 1177, 1184 (Miss. 1993).

The Litigation Accountability Act also authorizes a court to impose sanctions upon attorneys and/or parties who assert “any claim or defense that is without substantial justification, or …was interposed for delay or harassment.” Miss. Code Ann. §11-55-5 (Supp. 2011). “Without substantial justification” is defined as any claim that is “frivolous, groundless in fact or in law, or vexatious, as determined by the court.” Miss. Code Ann. §11-55-3(a) (Supp. 2011). “Frivolous” as used in the Act means the same thing as “frivolous” as used in Rule 11: a claim or defense made ‘without hope of success.’” See In re Spencer, 985 So. 2d 330, 338 (Miss. 2008).