Zente v. Credit Mgmt.

This case arose from Credit Management's debt-collection phone calls to plaintiff. On appeal, plaintiff's attorney challenged the district court's referral of his conduct to the disciplinary committee. Credit Management filed a motion to dismiss by requesting sanctions against the attorney under Rule 11, claiming that the attorney knew that the allegations in the complaint were false and frivolous. The district court denied the request for Rule 11 sanctions, holding that sanctions were unavailable because the attorney filed the motion to dismiss first, and thus obviously within twenty-one days of knowing that Credit Management was seeking Rule 11 sanctions. The district court, however, referred the allegation to the Admissions Committee for further review. The court concluded that neither plaintiff nor his attorney has standing to appeal that referral, which was not accompanied by any finding of misconduct. Accordingly, the court dismissed the appeal. View "Zente v. Credit Mgmt." on Justia Law