Opinion ID: 738247
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Application of 1993 Amendments to Springfield's Motion

Text: 35 As a threshold consideration, we must determine whether the magistrate judge erred by applying the 1993 amendments to Springfield's motion for sanctions. By order of the Supreme Court, the 1993 amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, including revisions of Rule 11, took effect on December 1, 1993, governing all proceedings in civil cases thereafter commenced and, insofar as just and practicable, all proceedings in civil cases then pending. Order of the United States Supreme Court Adopting and Amending the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 146 F.R.D. 404 (1993). 36 Ridder commenced this action well before December 1, 1993. Springfield moved for sanctions on March 28, 1995, over a year after the effective date of the amendments. Although the sanctionable conduct stemmed from four complaints filed prior to the revision's effective date, Ridder's counsel continued to assert the frivolous claims beyond that date. Moreover, there has been no suggestion that applying the amended rule in this case was somehow infeasible. Springfield was admittedly aware of the amended version of Rule 11, for the City expressly referred to the amendments in its motion for sanctions, thereby providing notice to Ridder's counsel that Rule 11 had been amended. Therefore, taking into consideration the elapsed time, the parties' awareness of the amendments, and the feasibility of applying the amended rule in the instant case, we agree with the magistrate judge that it was both just and practicable to apply Rule 11 as amended in 1993 to Springfield's motion for sanctions.