Opinion ID: 201098
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: the motion for sanctions

Text: 51 Synopsys moves for sanctions against ASC and its counsel based upon three theories: (i) that ASC continued to prosecute its appeal even after the appeal became hopeless; (ii) that ASC made misrepresentations in its brief and withheld material facts from this court; and (iii) that ASC violated 1st Cir. R. 30(b)(1) by refusing to cooperate with Synopsys in preparing the joint appendix. Although the question is not free from doubt, we deny the motion.
52 Appellate sanctions are a means of discouraging litigants and their lawyers from either wasting an adversary's time and resources or burdening the court with obviously groundless appeals. See Transnat'l Corp. v. Rodio & Ursillo, Ltd., 920 F.2d 1066, 1072 (1st Cir.1990); see also Fed. R.App. P. 38. Synopsys insists that this is such a case. In its view, the appeal is frivolous because it is barred by res judicata. See supra Part II. 53 An appeal is frivolous ... when the appellant's legal position is doomed to failure — and an objectively reasonable litigant should have realized as much from the outset. Toscano v. Chandris, S.A., 934 F.2d 383, 387 (1st Cir.1991). An appeal, arguable at the outset, may become hopeless (and, thus, frivolous), by reason of subsequent developments. Persisting in an appeal that plainly has become moot or foreclosed by the operation of res judicata would qualify under this branch of the frivolousness doctrine. See, e.g., Westcott Constr. Corp. v. Firemen's Fund, 996 F.2d 14, 15 (1st Cir.1993). 54 In this case, ASC's appeal was arguable when taken. Even after the proceedings in California ripened into a judgment, significant questions remained regarding the status of the supposed settlement, the scope of the state court litigation, and the efficacy of the resulting judgment. See supra Part II. These uncertainties cast doubt over whether this appeal had become a dead man walking. That doubt undermines the claim that persisting in the appeal is sanctionable. See, e.g., Ins. Co. of West v. County of McHenry, 328 F.3d 926, 929-30 (7th Cir.2003); Carter v. C.I.R., 784 F.2d 1006, 1009 (9th Cir.1986).
55 Synopsys's exhortation that we should impose sanctions on ASC for material omissions in its appellate brief raises a close question. This exhortation relates largely to ASC's argument concerning the trial court's denial of its motion to amend the misrepresentation count. See supra Part III(C). Synopsys is correct in pointing out that ASC failed to mention in its brief that it had opted to withdraw its motion to amend before the district court denied that motion. We have indicated before that brazen misrepresentations in an appellant's brief can justify the imposition of sanctions. Thomas v. Digital Equip. Corp., 880 F.2d 1486, 1491 (1st Cir.1989). Given that benchmark, we certainly possess the authority to sanction the omission here. See, e.g., id. (sanctioning an appellant for omitting material facts concerning discovery requests); Ortiz Villafane v. Segarra, 797 F.2d 1, 2 (1st Cir.1986) (sanctioning an appellant for falsely claiming that he had filed a motion to amend). 56 ASC's explanation is that the district court never formally ruled on its motion to withdraw the misrepresentation count, leading it to assume that the withdrawal had no legal significance. This is less an explanation than a lame excuse, and we find it wholly inadequate. We note, however, that Synopsys's other misstatement claims lack force. That is significant because the misrepresentation claim was a sideshow — not the main event — and the misleading omission was so easily exposed that it caused neither Synopsys nor this court an iota of extra work. Courts may, as a matter of discretion, decline to impose sanctions. See, e.g., Oakville Dev. Corp. v. FDIC, 986 F.2d 611, 615 n. 5 (1st Cir.1993). Under the circumstances of this case, we find that course advisable.
57 Synopsys's final ground for sanctions relates to 1st Cir. R. 30(b)(1). That rule provides in pertinent part that [t]he parties are encouraged to agree on the contents of the appendix. Id. It then provides for various steps that must be taken in the absence of an agreement. 58 In the last analysis, the rule merely encourages cooperation; it does not mandate it. Moreover, experience teaches that the encouraged cooperation invariably entails a certain amount of pulling and hauling. As to the alternative steps that ASC was expected to take in the absence of an agreement, the record consists mostly of finger-pointing and is insufficient to allow us to assess the magnitude of the claimed violations. Finally, the rule imposes correlative obligations on an appellee, and the record on appeal is too sparse to warrant pinning the blame for transgressions exclusively on ASC. Cf. Quinones-Pacheco v. Am. Airlines, Inc., 979 F.2d 1, 8 n. 9 (1st Cir.1992) (denying sanctions and observing that [t]he lemon should not be allowed to reap a reward for calling the grapefruit sour). Consequently, we eschew any award of sanctions on this ground.