Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11, as most readers likely know, says an attorney making a filing certifies that the filing has factual support:
(b) Representations to the Court. By presenting to the court a pleading, written motion, or other paper—whether by signing, filing, submitting, or later advocating it—an attorney . . . certifies that to the best of the person's knowledge, information, and belief, formed after an inquiry reasonable under the circumstances: . . .
(3) the factual contentions have evidentiary support or, if specifically so identified, will likely have evidentiary support after a reasonable opportunity for further investigation or discovery . . . .
FRCP 11.
If the opposing party has reason to doubt that an attorney has met their burden, it can threaten a Rule 11 motion. The procedure gives parties an opportunity to cure, though, and parties sometimes do.
A Real Live Rule 11 Motion
Those motions are often threatened but, in practice, we don't see a ton of rulings on Rule 11 motions in the District of Delaware. So it was interesting to see the Court's ruling today in Central Santa Lucia, L.C. v. Expedia Group, Inc., C.A. No. 22-367-JLH (D. Del. Mar. 10, 2025).
That case involves a violation of a federal statute regarding the sale of certain property. To bring a case, the plaintiff must have acquired ownership of the property before a specific date: March 12, 1996.
The plaintiff in the case claimed it owned the relevant property as of the date. The defendant disagreed, and filed a Rule 11 motion seeking sanctions for filing a pleading that relied on fraudulently ...
