Federal courts, it has been held, have at least two kinds of authority to sanction bad faith conduct of attorneys and parties.
One source of their authority is inherent. A federal court can sanction a lawyer or a party for acting in bad faith, vexatiously, wantonly or for oppressive reasons. The standard for imposing inherent sanctions is subjective. JQ Adams & Sons, Inc. v. Scottsdale Ins. Co., NO. 3:21-cv-492-TJC-PDB, 2022 WL 2643587, at *6 (M.D. Fla. July 8, 2022) (Barksdale, USMJ).
A second source of their authority is under 28 U.S.C.A. § 1927. The statute authorizes sanctions for unreasonable and vexatious conduct, which has been held to mean virtually the same thing as bad faith. The standard is objective. When the standard is applied to lawyers, the standard measures the conduct of the particular lawyer at bar, against how a reasonable lawyer would have acted. JQ Adams & Sons, Inc. v. Scottsdale Ins. Co., NO. 3:21-cv-492-TJC-PDB, 2022 WL 2643587, at *6 (M.D. Fla. July 8, 2022) (Barksdale, USMJ).
Whatever the source of sanctions authority, sanctions for bad faith conduct is definitely not good faith.
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