§ 9.011.Signing of Pleadings

The certification, and the word joining its two halves decides most cases under it.

The signing of a pleading as required by the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure constitutes a certificate by the signatory that, to the signatory’s best knowledge, information, and belief, formed after reasonable inquiry, the pleading is not groundless and brought in bad faith, groundless and brought for the purpose of harassment, or groundless and interposed for any improper purpose such as unnecessary delay or needless increase in the cost of litigation.

Each of the three grounds is conjunctive. Groundlessness alone is not a violation, and bad faith alone is not either — a pleading must be both.

That is the central difference between this chapter and the one that replaced it in practice. The later chapter’s certification lists improper purpose, legal support and evidentiary support as separate requirements, each of which can be violated on its own.

So a well-founded claim filed to harass is not sanctionable here, and a groundless claim filed in complete good faith is not either.

"Formed after reasonable inquiry" sets the standard of care. The certificate is not that the signatory believed the pleading sound, but that the belief followed an inquiry a reasonable lawyer would have made.

The obligation to sign is not created here. It comes from the Rules of Civil Procedure; this section attaches meaning to the act.

Note who certifies. The signatory does — which in most cases is the attorney rather than the party, though the sanction section can reach both.