Sorenson v. Wolfson

170 F. Supp. 3d 622, 94 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 367, 2016 WL 1089386, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36626
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedMarch 21, 2016
Docket10-cv-4596 (JGK)
StatusPublished
Cited by35 cases

This text of 170 F. Supp. 3d 622 (Sorenson v. Wolfson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sorenson v. Wolfson, 170 F. Supp. 3d 622, 94 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 367, 2016 WL 1089386, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36626 (S.D.N.Y. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

JOHN G. KOELTL, District Judge:

Before the Court are three motions brought by the defendant, Stanley Wolf-son. Wolfson moves (1) for sanctions against the plaintiff Sigurd A. Sorenson under Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure; (2) for attorneys’ fees and costs pursuant to 17 U.S.C. §§ 505 and 1325; and (3) for attorneys’ fees and costs pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1927 and pursuant to the Court’s inherent powers. For the reasons that follow, all three motions are denied.

I.

These motions are yet another chapter in a protracted and spiteful dispute between the parties over an apartment in a condominium development in Manhattan. The Court has already set forth the facts and the procedural background of this case in its prior opinions, familiarity with which is assumed. The following facts are included because of their relevance to these motions.

Sorenson, an attorney and the potential purchaser of three unfinished units in a residential condominium, brought a lawsuit pro se against Wolfson, the owner of the entity that originally sponsored the condominium’s development. Sorenson alleged-that Wolfson infringed Sorenson’s copyright to the floor plan and the roof plan of one unit and brought claims for copyright infringement and fraud on a state court. Following a non-jury trial, this Court dismissed the action with prejudice, concluding among other findings that Sorenson was not the author of the floor and roof plans, that Sorenson committed fraud on the Copyright Office, and that the Rooker-Feldman doctrine prevented the Court from asserting jurisdiction over the fraud-on-the-court claim, which it also held was without merit. See Sorenson v. Wolfson, 96 F.Supp.3d 347, 364, 369-70 (S.D.N.Y.2015) (“Sorenson I”).

Subsequently, Sorenson filed a post-trial motion pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 52 and 59(e) asking the Court to amend its findings of facts and conclusions of law and to reopen the record to include the testimony of Todd Ernst, an architectural designer who was unable to testify at trial because of illness. The Court denied Sorenson’s motion. See Sorenson v. Wolfson, No. 10cv4596 (JGK), 2015 WL 4095197, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. July 7, 2015) (“Sorenson II”). In that post-trial motion, Sorenson argued that the Court should amend its findings because the Court misconstrued Sorenson’s testimony. The Court held that Sorenson “failed to show that there were any issues of fact or law that the Court overlooked” to justify amending its findings. Id. at *3. The Court also held that Ernst’s testimony was not newly discovered evidence and that Sorenson’s efforts at preserving Ernst’s testimony were not diligent. Id.

Wolfson subsequently filed the three current motions.

II.

In the first motion, Wolfson moves for Rule 11 sanctions for Sorenson’s post-trial motion filed pursuant to Rules 52 and 59. Wolfson seeks sanctions for the amount of attorneys’ fees and costs in resisting the motion and making the current Rule 11 motion. Wolfson also seeks an injunction against further litigation by Sorenson.

Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides, in pertinent part, that, by presenting a “pleading, written motion, or other paper” to the Court, an attorney “certifies that to the best of the person’s knowledge, information, and belief, formed [626]*626after an inquiry reasonable under the circumstances”:

(1) it is not being presented for any improper purpose, such as to harass, cause unnecessary delay, or needlessly increase the cost of litigation;
(2) the claims, defenses, and other legal contentions are warranted by existing law or by a nonfrivolous argument for extending, modifying, or reversing existing law or for establishing new law....

Fed.R.Civ.P. 11(b).

Rule 11 “ ‘imposes an affirmative duty on each attorney to conduct a reasonable inquiry into the viability of a pleading before it is signed.’ ” Gutierrez v. Fox, 141 F.3d 425, 427 (2d Cir.1998) (quoting Eastway Constr. Corp. v. City of N.Y., 762 F.2d 243, 253 (2d Cir.1985)). In order to determine if Rule 11 sanctions are appropriate, the Court must apply an “objective standard of reasonableness” to determine if the attorney has conducted a “reasonable inquiry” into the basis of the arguments advanced. MacDraw, Inc. v. CIT Grp. Equip. Fin., Inc., 73 F.3d 1253, 1257 (2d Cir.1996). The imposition of Rule 11 sanctions is discretionary and should be reserved for extreme cases, and “all doubts should be resolved in favor of the signing attorney.” K.M.B. Warehouse Distribs., Inc. v. Walker Mfg. Co., 61 F.3d 123, 131 (2d Cir.1995); Bowman Imp. Exp., Ltd. v. F.J. Eisner & Co. N. Am., No. 02cv3436 (JGK), 2003 WL 21543522, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. July 9, 2003); see also Gameologist Grp., LLC v. Sci. Games Int’ l, Inc., No. 09cv6261 (JGK), 2012 WL 1446922, at *4 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 26, 2012), aff'd, 508 Fed.Appx. 31 (2d Cir.2013). “Rule 11 permits a court to impose sanctions on a pro se litigant who violates Rule 11.” Vasile v. Dean Witter Reynolds Inc., 20 F.Supp.2d 465, 505 (E.D.N.Y.1998), aff'd, 205 F.3d 1327 (2d Cir.2000).

Wolfson’s Rule 11 motion is denied. The post-trial motion was without merit for all of the reasons explained in that opinion and summarized above. But the Court cannot say that Sorenson’s post-trial motion was “so objectively unreasonable as to warrant the imposition of sanctions.” Gameologist Grp., 2012 WL 1446922, at *4. It was not “patently clear that [the plaintiffs claims] ha[d] absolutely no chance of success under the existing precedents.” Eastway, 762 F.2d at 254. Courts should be cautious in granting Rule 11 sanctions, and the Court here exercises its discretion to decline to award sanctions. See Bowman, 2003 WL 21543522, at *2.

Some further words are merited. If the motion was so without merit, it could have been disposed of with a brief opposition; however, Wolfson chose to submit an opposition brief in excess of twenty pages. Part of Wolfson’s current motion is a complaint about all of the expenses incurred in the course of the drawn-out federal and state-court litigation. But the motion for sanctions concerns only the motion pursuant to Rules 52 and 59, which could have been handled expeditiously.

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170 F. Supp. 3d 622, 94 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 367, 2016 WL 1089386, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36626, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sorenson-v-wolfson-nysd-2016.