Hadlock v. Baechler

136 F.R.D. 157, 1991 WL 61397
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Arkansas
DecidedFebruary 8, 1991
DocketCiv. No. 90-6110
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 136 F.R.D. 157 (Hadlock v. Baechler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hadlock v. Baechler, 136 F.R.D. 157, 1991 WL 61397 (W.D. Ark. 1991).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

OREN HARRIS, Senior District Judge.

Before the court is the defendants’ written application to appear pursuant to Local [158]*158Rule 2 without the aid of local counsel and the defendants’ motion to dismiss and for sanctions against the plaintiffs and/or the plaintiffs’ attorney. The defendants filed these motions on December 31, 1990. The complaint was filed by the plaintiffs on November 30, 1990. The plaintiffs filed a response to the defendants’ motion to dismiss and for sanctions on January 15, 1991. The defendants filed a reply memorandum in support of their motion to dismiss and for sanctions on January 28, 1991.

LOCAL RULE 2 WRITTEN APPLICATION

Upon reviewing the file and the written application of the plaintiff’s attorney the court finds that the application and motion for waiver of designation of local counsel should be granted. The court notes that no objection was raised to the written application. The court further notes that the defendants’ counsel is licensed to practice law in the state and federal courts in Missouri and in the state courts of Illinois.

MOTION TO DISMISS

Defendants motion to dismiss alleges that this court is without personal jurisdiction over the defendants and that the plaintiffs’ complaint should be stricken due to the violation of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11. The defendants claim that none of the defendants are residents of Arkansas and that none of the defendants have had sufficient contacts with this state to subject themselves to this court’s jurisdiction.

According to the defendants, plaintiffs violated Rule 11 by filing a complaint that was not signed by the attorney representing the plaintiffs and by filing a frivolous action. Plaintiffs’ counsel, Q. Byrum Hurst Jr., in his response denies that his signature is a required component of the plaintiffs’ complaint and states that his name, address, and phone number are contained in the complaint. The twelve page copy of the plaintiffs’ complaint in the court’s file and the original in the clerk’s office in Hot Springs make no mention of Mr. Hurst or any information about any attorney representing plaintiff. A brief review of the complaint would have advised plaintiffs’ counsel of this fact.

RULE 11 SIGNATURE REQUIREMENT

The individual plaintiff, Mr. Hadlock, signed the complaint for himself and for Lee Hadlock, Inc. on page 12 of the complaint. “It is well settled law that a corporation may be represented only by licensed counsel, [citations omitted] While 28 U.S.C. § 1654 protects parties right to plead and conduct their own cases, that right has never been interpreted to allow an individual to appear for a corporation pro se.” Carr Enterprises, Inc. v. United States, 698 F.2d 952, 953 (8th Cir.1983). Mr. Hadlock may represent himself, but he cannot represent the corporation or other individuals.

In Scarrella v. Midwest Federal Savings and Loan, 536 F.2d 1207 (8th Cir.1976), the Court dismissed the appeals of two of the three appellants pursuant to the signature requirement of Rule 11. Only one appellant signed the notice of appeal purporting to do so on behalf of all the appellants. She was not an attorney.

Fed.R.Civ.P. 11 states:

Every pleading, motion, and other paper of a party represented by an attorney shall be signed by at least one attorney of record in the attorney’s individual name, whose address shall be stated ... If a pleading, motion, or other paper is not signed, it shall be stricken unless it is signed promptly after the omission is called to the attention of the pleader or movant.

Local Rule 3(c)(1) of the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas also requires that the filing attorney sign every pleading in his or her individual name and include the attorney’s address, zip code and telephone number. The omission of signature was first called to the attention of plaintiffs’ counsel in a letter dated December 19, 1990, from defendants’ counsel.

Plaintiffs argue in their response to defendants motion to dismiss that defendants must make a showing of hardship or prejudice caused by their noncompliance with [159]*159the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. No such demonstration of prejudice is required by Fed.R.Civ.P. 11.

“Although the failure to sign is considered, generally a mere technical defect ... under appropriate circumstances it may constitute grounds for striking the pleading.” Wrenn v. New York City Health and Hospitals, 104 F.R.D. 553, 556 (S.D.N. Y.1985); U.S. v. Philadelphia Health Management Corp., 519 F.Supp. 818, 826 n. 9 (E.D.Pa.1981); cf. Hernandez-Avila v. Averill, 725 F.2d 25, 28 (2d Cir.1984). In Wrenn the court denied leave to amend the complaint because the attorney for the plaintiff, “took over five weeks to provide the Court with a signed pleading after defendants served their moving papers which discussed the fact of the omitted signature.” 104 F.R.D. at 556.

A “bungled signature” on a pleading or a pleading filed inadvertently without any signature may be viewed as a technical defect and not a substantial violation of Rule 11. “The law is clear that the pleading shall not be stricken unless the pleader fails to sign it promptly after being alerted to the defect.” Edwards v. Groner, 116 F.R.D. 578, 579-580 (D. Virgin Islands 1987); e.g., Holley Coal Company v. Globe Indemnity Co., 186 F.2d 291, 295 (4th Cir.1950).

Plaintiffs’ attorney omitted his signature from the complaint and failed to remedy the defect after notice from the defendants. The Rule 11 requirement of an attorney’s signature on pleadings he files serves as the certification that the attorney, “made a reasonable inquiry, and that the allegations in the complaint or other pleadings are ‘well grounded in fact’ and are ‘warranted by existing law.’ ” Witzsche v. Jaeger & Haines, Inc., 707 F.Supp. 407, 411 (W.D.Ark.1989).

The failure of an attorney to sign a pleading, “is a glaring and serious omission. Under Rule 11, the failure of an attorney to sign a complaint warrants the striking of it.” Stewart v. City of Chicago, 622 F.Supp. 35, 37-38 (D.C.Ill.1985); U.S. ex rel. Sacks v. Philadelphia Health Management Corp., 519 F.Supp. 818, 826 (E.D.Pa.1981). In Schaffer v. Chicago Police Officers, 120 F.R.D. 514 (N.D.Ill.1988) the plaintiff’s attorney refused to sign the complaint because the plaintiff refused to reimburse him for any Rule 11 sanctions that might be assessed in the case.

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