04-14-1999 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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Doris Klein and Dennis Klein v. City of Little Canada Court File No.: 62- C3 -97- 012759 Memorandum In the underlying action, Plaintiffs, Doris Klein and Dennis Klein, brought suit against Defendant, City of St. Paul, alleging seven claims of wrongdoing on the part of the Defendant. At the hearing on Defendant's summary judgment Motion, Plaintiff dismissed six of those claims. This Court, on several occassions as trial approached, questioned Plaintiff's attorney as to the merits of the remaining claim and the deficiencies in the case. Plaintiff's attorney assured the Court that a legitimate case would be presented at trial. The Court allowed Plaintiff to proceed based on those assurances. At trial, Plaintiff was not able to present evidence to support the claim raised. Thus, this Court dismissed the action at the close of Plaintiff's case. Subsequently, Defendant brought a motion to recover attorney's fees under Minn. Stat. 549.211 and Rule 11 of the Minn. Rules of Civ. Procedures. Minn. Stat. 549.211, Subd. 2 (3) states that an attorney who signs motions, pleadings, etc. in a civil action certifies that: the allegations and other factual contentions have evidentiary support, or if specifically so identified, are likely to have evidentiary support after a reasonable opportunity for further investigation or discovery. Minn. Stat. 549.211, Subd. 3 states that sanctions may be imposed upon the attorneys, law firms, or parties if the Court determines that Subd. 2 has been violated. Under Rule 11 of the Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure, the signature of an attorney on pleadings, motions, or other paper in a proceeding constitutes a certification that the attorney has conducted a reasonable inquiry and to the best of the attorney's information and belief the papers attested to are well Page 26