Schiff v. United States

24 Cl. Ct. 499, 68 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5974, 1991 U.S. Claims LEXIS 542, 1991 WL 249949
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in Schiff v. United States. Read the opinion of the Court — 24 Cl. Ct. 249
United States Court of Claims·Decided November 22, 1991·No. No. 90-780T·Published

Opinion

ORDER

REGINALD W. GIBSON, Judge.

On September 19, 1991, this court’s opinion granted defendant’s RUSCC 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss plaintiff's tax refund complaint for want of jurisdiction.1 Concomitantly therewith, we denied defendant’s motion for a RUSCC 11 sanction on the authority of Johns-Manville Corp. v. United States, 893 F.2d 324, 326-327 (Fed. Cir.1989); and Christianson v. Colt Industries Operating Corp., 486 U.S. 800, 818, 108 S.Ct. 2166, 2178, 100 L.Ed.2d 811 (1988). Thereafter, the following documents were filed/received after the entry of judgment on September 20, 1991 24 Cl. Ct. 249:

(i) Defendant’s (September 30, 1991) RUSCC 59 Motion For Reconsideration Of The Ruling On Its Motion For Rule 11 Sanctions, and

(ii) Plaintiff’s (November 5, 1991) Motion For An Extension Of Time In Which To File His RUSCC 59 Motion For Reconsideration and Motion For Reconsideration Of The Court’s Ruling Of September 19, 1991 (granting of defendant’s RUSCC 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss).

RUSCC 59 provides in pertinent part as follows:

(a) Grounds. (1) A ... reconsideration may be granted to all or any of the parties and on all or part of the issues, for any of the reasons established by the rules of common law____
(b) Time for Motion____a motion filed pursuant to this rule shall be filed not later than 10 days after the entry of judgment____

(Emphasis added). For the reasons explicated hereinafter, we are constrained to deny both motions, however, on different grounds.

[500]*5001. Defendant’s Motion for Reconsideration:

Specifically, we denied defendant’s motion for RUSCC 11 sanctions, notwithstanding the fact that plaintiff’s complaint is clearly frivolous, because of want of jurisdiction over the merits of the case. We are constrained to reach this result because of the pointed pronouncement in Johns-Manville Corp., supra, which we are compelled to follow. In a case in which the Claims Court imposed “costs” on the plaintiff even after dismissing the case on the merits for want of jurisdiction, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) stated in reversing the trial court—

... a court that lacks jurisdiction over the subject matter does not have the power to award costs.

Id. at 326 (citations omitted). The bases for the CAFC’s ruling was explained to have its genesis in The Mayor v. Cooper, 73 U.S. (6 Wall.) 247, 18 L.Ed. 851 (1868), wherein the Supreme Court stated:

The [trial] court held that it had no jurisdiction whatever of the case, and yet gave a judgment for the costs of the motion, and ordered that an execution should issue to collect them. This was clearly erroneous. If there were no jurisdiction there was no power to do anything but to strike the case from the docket.

Against this background, the CAFC further explained that—

[t]he rationale behind the common law rule does not. permit an exception which would empower courts to award costs where they have no jurisdiction____ “[A]s the court can render no judgment for or against either party, it cannot render a judgment even for costs.”

Johns-Manville Corp., 893 F.2d at 327 (citation omitted). The essence of the foregoing is simply that—“the inability of a court to award costs arises out of its lack of jurisdiction over the case.” Id.

In the case at bar, the court is of the opinion that the monetary sanction prayed for by defendant, i.e., $5,000.00, mirrors in all material particulars the “costs” which the trial court sought to impose in JohnsManville. Given such circumstance, we believe the results, upon dismissal for want of jurisdiction, should also be the same and for the same reason, i.e., “the inability of [this] court to award [sanctions] arises out of its lack of jurisdiction over the case.” Id.

Defendant proffers and relies on the following bases, to which we will respond seriatim, for the grant of its motion for reconsideration:

(i) Numerous courts of appeals have held that a court does retain authority to award sanctions under Rule 11 even where a complaint has been dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

Response: The cases relied on and cited to by defendant are decisions in the First, Second, Fifth, Seventh and Ninth Circuits. Without undertaking a separate factual analysis of each cited case, it is sufficient to say that, while persuasive, said cases are not obligatory on this court; defendant fails to cite to a case binding on this court respecting the issue raised; and given the foregoing, we are, of course, constrained to follow the binding pronouncements in Johns-Manville which we deem to be dis-positive of the issue raised.

(ii) Next, defendant cites to Cooter & Gell v. Hartmax Corp., 496 U.S. 384, 110 S.Ct. 2447, 2457, 110 L.Ed.2d 359 (1990), for the proposition that the Supreme Court held—“that a plaintiff’s voluntary dismissal pursuant to FRCP 41(a)(1) did not divest a District Court of jurisdiction to impose Rule 11 sanction for the filing of a frivolous complaint.”

Response: Cooter & Gell was an antitrust case in which, following a voluntary Rule 41(a)(1) dismissal, the district court imposed a Rule 11 sanction. There the Supreme Court in upholding the imposed sanction stated that:

... a voluntary dismissal does not expunge the Rule 11 violation. In order to comply with Rule ll’s requirement ... a court must have the authority to consider whether there has been a violation— [501]*501regardless of the dismissal of the underlying action____

110 S.Ct. at 2455 (emphasis added).

We observe two critical factual distinctions between Cooter & Gell and the case at bar. In the former, the district court had de jure jurisdiction, and in addition, the dismissal was voluntary, while in the latter, the Claims Court at no time acquires jurisdiction and, moreover, the dismissal was involuntary. These operative circumstances, in our judgment, are clearly sufficient distinguishing factors to make Cooter & Gell inapposite to any issues in the case at bar, and we so hold.

(iii) Finally, the defendant cites to a decision by the Second Circuit in Schiff v. United States, 919 F.2d 830, 834-835 (1990), for the imposition of sanctions on the grounds that there the substantive arguments raised in the complaint were frivolous, and that the sanction imposed by the Second Circuit, for the same conduct here, is identical to the relief sought at bar. In addition, defendant relies on Schiff v. United States, 914 F.2d 271 (Fed.Cir.1990), for a finding that his complaint at bar is “frivolous.”

Response:

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Schiff v. United States, 24 Cl. Ct. 499, 68 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5974, 1991 U.S. Claims LEXIS 542, 1991 WL 249949 (cc 1991).

24 Cl. Ct. 499 (Schiff v. United States) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Mayor v. Cooper
73 U.S. 247 (Supreme Court, 1868)
Christianson v. Colt Industries Operating Corp.
486 U.S. 800 (Supreme Court, 1988)
Cooter & Gell v. Hartmarx Corp.
496 U.S. 384 (Supreme Court, 1990)
Irwin A. Schiff v. United States
919 F.2d 830 (Second Circuit, 1990)
Schiff v. United States
24 Cl. Ct. 249 (Court of Claims, 1991)