Rule 11.Signing of Pleadings, Motions, and Other Papers; Sanctions.

Rule 11 sets the ground rules for who signs court papers and what that signature means. An attorney representing a party must personally sign every pleading, motion, or other paper in their own name and list their address, email, bar number, and phone number, though an attorney doesn’t have to sign answers to interrogatories or objections to admission requests that the party has already signed. Someone representing themselves without a lawyer signs their own filings and provides their address, phone number, and — if they’re using the electronic filing system — an email address.

The signature is not just a formality. By signing, the person certifies they’ve read the paper, that after reasonable inquiry it’s grounded in fact and supported by existing law (or a good-faith argument to change the law), and that it wasn’t filed to harass anyone, cause delay, or run up litigation costs. Pleadings generally don’t need to be verified or backed by a separate affidavit unless another rule or statute says otherwise.

Failing to sign has consequences: an unsigned pleading, motion, or paper gets stricken unless it’s signed promptly once the omission is pointed out, or unless it was left unsigned specifically to dodge the rule. If a paper is signed in violation of the rule’s certification requirements, the court — on its own or on motion — can sanction the signer, the represented party, or both, including ordering payment of the other side’s reasonable expenses and attorney’s fees caused by the filing.