Themis Essay 4904 Flashcards
A lawyer shall not assert or controvert an
issue in a proceeding when there is a frivolous basis for doing so.
A lawyer shall not make a false statement
of law or fact to a tribunal.
A lawyer shall not make a frivolous discovery request or fail to
make reasonably diligent efforts to comply with a legally proper discovery request by an opposing party.
A plaintiff has a right to take a first nonsuit at any time before:
(i) a motion to strike the evidence has been sustained;
(ii) the jury retires to decide the case; or
(iii) the action has been submitted to the court for decision.
A judge, in imposing sanctions, has the power to
strike the evidence.
Under the Virginia Supreme Court rules, the court may
impose sanctions for a party’s failure to comply with a discovery order.
When a party has failed to attend his own deposition, serve answers to interrogatories, or respond to a request for production or inspection, the court may
impose certain sanctions, including striking the pleadings, without the prior entry of an order to compel these discovery actions; however, the court may not hold the party in contempt for the failure.
Virginia’s sanction statute grants a court the authority to
impose appropriate sanctions on any such violation of the statute’s requirements, whether the violation is brought to the court’s attention through a motion or the court acts on its own initiative.
Virginia’s sanction statute provides that the attorney who represents a party (or a party who is proceeding pro se), by filing a pleading or making a motion, whether in writing or orally certifies that:
(i) he has read the motion, pleading, or other paper;
(ii) to the best of his knowledge and belief it is well grounded in fact and is warranted by existing law or a good faith argument for extension, modification, or reversal; and
(iii) it is not interposed for any improper purpose, such as to harass or to cause necessary delay or needless increase in the cost of litigation.
Among the limited situations in which the courts and judges may issue attachments for contempt and punish summarily is when
vile, contemptuous, or insulting language addressed to or published of a judge in respect of any act or proceeding in such court.
Among the sanctions that the court may impose for violation of the Virginia sanction statute is
prohibiting the attorney from practicing before it.
The Canons of Judicial Conduct mandate that a judge should inform
the Virginia State Bar when the judge has knowledge that a lawyer has committed misconduct that raises a “substantial question” about the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer in other respects.
