Ninth Circuit Would Not Award Fees As a Sanctions, But Does Hold Attorney Liable for Costs.
The Ninth Circuit in The Save the Peaks Coalition v. U.S. Forest Service, Case No. 10-17896 (9th Cir. June 21, 2012) (published) found that plaintiffs’ counsel had multiplied the proceedings unreasonably and vexatiously under 28 U.S.C. § 1927. Although the panel found that an award of attorney’s fees to a requesting intervenor would be inequitable, it did find that an award of costs against the offending counsel was appropriate. They did so both under section 1927 and the inherent power to sanction a losing party/counsel acting in bad faith. (See Fink v. Gomez, 239 F.3d 989, 992 (9th Cir. 2001) [inherent power sanctions can extend to counsel who willfully abuses the judicial process].)
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