Motions for Sanctions
A Levels Academy Islamabad
Transcript
00:00In a court case, sides will try to do whatever they can to get an outcome in their favor.
00:05Sometimes, these result in breaking court rules.
00:08When this happens, the judge can hit the offending side with something called sanctions.
00:13Sanctions are penalties, financial or otherwise, imposed on a party or their lawyers for violating court rules or orders.
00:21There are a variety of reasons why either the court or a litigant would look to sanction a particular party in a case.
00:28For example, a litigant might file a motion for sanctions so they could be reimbursed fees or costs due to unnecessary legal work resulting from an opponent's misconduct.
00:38But sanctions can be applied because of anything from pursuing a frivolous action to harassing a witness.
00:44But a sanction for making a frivolous claim or defense is a special kind of sanction, known by the Florida statute in which it appears, Section 57-105.
00:55A frivolous action is one where there are no facts to support the claim, or there is no law that would support a claim based on the known facts.
01:03But if you want to file a motion under 57-105, the statute requires that you give your opponent 21 days from being shown your proposed motion to either correct or withdraw the claim or defense you say is frivolous.
01:16If your opponent doesn't do either within the 21 days, then and only then can you file your motion for sanctions, making sure that you back up your motion with proof.
01:25If the court rules in favor of your motion, it will order that your opponent pay you an amount that will reimburse you for your troubles.
01:32But your own sanctioned motion must not be frivolous, or you risk your opponent filing a counter-motion against you and making you pay for the extra legal fees caused by your sanctioned motion.
01:42Sanctions are meant to keep litigating parties in check and should not be used lightly.
01:47Knowing what you can and can't do in court will help you dodge these avoidable penalties.
01:52LegalYou is there to help you know.
01:55LegalYou, you can do this.