Opinion ID: 600264
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: standard of review

Text: 7 It is within the trial court's fief to choose appropriate sanctions when a party does not comply with procedural rules. See Media Duplication Servs., Ltd. v. HDG Software, Inc., 928 F.2d 1228, 1238 (1st Cir.1991) (Considerable discretion is vested in a district judge to decide whether to impose sanctions and what form they should take.); Jensen v. Frank, 912 F.2d 517, 524 (1st Cir.1990) (similar); Damiani v. Rhode Island Hosp., 704 F.2d 12, 15 (1st Cir.1983) (similar). An appellate court must step softly in such precincts, taking pains not simply to substitute its judgment for that of the district court and intervening only if it is persuaded that the district court overspilled fairly wide discretionary bounds. See National Hockey League v. Metropolitan Hockey Club, Inc., 427 U.S. 639, 642, 96 S.Ct. 2778, 2780, 49 L.Ed.2d 747 (1976); Velazquez-Rivera v. Sea-Land Serv., Inc., 920 F.2d 1072, 1075 (1st Cir.1990); Fashion House, Inc. v. K Mart Corp., 892 F.2d 1076, 1081-82 (1st Cir.1989). All in all, a party protesting an order in respect to sanctions bears a formidable burden in attempting to convince the court of appeals that the lower court erred. 8 Deference, however, is not to be confused with automatic acquiescence. We will not rubber stamp sanction decisions entered in the district court. Media Duplication, 928 F.2d at 1238. Rather, in examining the imposition of sanctions for possible abuses of discretion, we focus our review particularly on whether a material factor deserving significant weight [was] ignored, whether an improper factor [was] relied upon, or whether when all proper and no improper factors [were] assessed ... the court [made] a serious mistake in weighing them. Independent Oil & Chem. Workers, Inc. v. Procter & Gamble Mfg. Co., 864 F.2d 927, 929 (1st Cir.1988) (collecting cases).