Opinion ID: 1113232
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: Barnard further challenges both the personal and subject matter jurisdiction of the district court to order the award of attorney fees. We conclude that by failing to pursue his objections to Judge Murphy's order as described above, Barnard waived that portion of the claim pertaining to personal jurisdiction. However, his challenge to subject matter jurisdiction remains viable. This court has made clear that challenges to subject matter jurisdiction may be raised at any time and cannot be waived by the parties. Olson, 724 P.2d at 964; Utah Dep't of Bus. Reg., 602 P.2d at 699; Utah R.Civ.P. 12(h). However, the law on waiver of objections to personal jurisdiction is less clear. Many cases refer to jurisdiction generally, see, e.g., Olson, 724 P.2d at 964, but a close reading of those cases suggests that they actually involve subject matter jurisdiction rather than personal jurisdiction. We conclude that the prohibition against waiver applies only to subject matter jurisdiction and note that this conclusion is consistent with federal law. See Petrowski, 350 U.S. at 496, 76 S.Ct. at 490 (holding that parties who stipulated to personal jurisdiction waived any right to assert a lack of personal jurisdiction); cf. Utah Dep't of Bus. Reg., 602 P.2d at 699 (asserting that parties may not waive subject matter jurisdiction). We therefore address only Barnard's claim that the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to impose sanctions. We find his arguments unpersuasive. In his brief, Barnard characterizes the award of attorney fees as punishment for ethical violations not within the purview of the district court. We do not agree that the award constituted sanctions for ethical violations. Judge Murphy's order explicitly states that the award in question was an award of attorney fees, apparently ordered to compensate for time lost and inconvenience occasioned by Barnard's behavior: Defendant shall pay to Plaintiff the sum of $430.00 as and for attorney's fees incurred by Plaintiff in connection with this contempt proceeding. The Defendant is ordered not to pay any money to his former counsel, Brian Barnard, until the award of attorney's fees is paid to counsel for the Plaintiff. Further, any monies paid by Defendant to counsel for Plaintiff in satisfaction of this obligation shall be credited, dollar for dollar against Defendant's outstanding balance with his prior counsel, Brian Barnard. (Emphasis added.) While the award in question took the form of a sanction, it was not a sanction for an ethical violation; instead, it allocated costs to compensate for the delay, inconvenience, and expense resulting from Barnard's behavior. The court found that Mr. Randazzo had not received notice of the contempt hearing, that Barnard had not given Mr. Randazzo timely notice of the court's decision in the divorce proceeding, and that Barnard had not forwarded to Mr. Randazzo copies of the proposed findings and divorce decree. As a result of those failings, the hearing before Judge Murphy was delayed for one and one-half hours, and Mr. Randazzo nearly failed to appear at the hearing, which in all likelihood would have resulted in further contempt charges against him. Barnard's contention that the award was a sanction for ethical violations or alternatively for contempt [7] is thus unavailing. Rather, the court was properly exercising its inherent power to enforce compliance with its rules. As we noted nearly a century ago: It is undoubtedly true that courts of general and superior jurisdiction possess certain inherent powers not derived from any statute. Among these are the power to punish for contempt, to make, modify, and enforce rules for the regulation of the business before the court, ... to recall and control its process, to direct and control its officers, including attorneys as such, and to suspend, disbar, and reinstate attorneys. Such inherent powers of courts are necessary to the proper discharge of their duties .... [Absent legislative limitations] a constitutional court of general and superior jurisdiction may exercise such inherent powers and summary jurisdiction as the necessity of the case may require, and in [a] manner comporting with a proper discharge of its duties in the premises. .... The summary jurisdiction which the court has over its attorneys as officers of the court ... is inherent, continuing, and plenary ... and ought to be assumed and exercised ... not only to maintain and protect the integrity and dignity of the court, to secure obedience to its rules and process, and to rebuke interference with the conduct of its business, but also to control and protect its officers, including attorneys. In re Evans, 42 Utah 282, 130 P. 217, 224-25 (1913) (emphasis added); see also In re Barclay, 82 Utah 288, 24 P.2d 302, 303 (Utah 1933) (noting inherent power to discipline attorneys in discussion of court's power to suspend attorneys from practice); In re Burton, 67 Utah 118, 246 P. 188, 199 (1926) (describing court's inherent power to deal with its own officers, including attorneys). As we suggested in In re Evans, courts of general jurisdiction, such as the district court in this case, possess certain inherent power to impose monetary sanctions on attorneys who by their conduct thwart the court's scheduling and movement of cases through the court. 130 P. at 224; see also Jean E. Maess, Annotation, Authority of Trial Judge to Impose Costs or Other Sanctions Against Attorney Who Fails to Appear at, or Proceed with, Scheduled Trial, 29 A.L.R.4th 160 (1984). Similarly, trial courts in the federal system have such inherent power. Roadway Express, Inc. v. Piper, 447 U.S. 752, 100 S.Ct. 2455, 65 L.Ed.2d 488 (1980); see also Debra T. Landis, Annotation, Inherent Power of Federal District Court to Impose Monetary Sanctions on Counsel in Absence of Contempt of Court, 77 A.L.R.Fed. 789 (1986). This inherent power of trial courts is separate and distinct from the contempt powers they may exercise in appropriate cases. A court's power to enforce its rules implies the existence of a mechanism for enforcement. That mechanism may take a variety of forms, one example of which is the assessment of attorney fees. Without sanctions, the power to enforce would be meaningless. As well as being consistent with our precedent in this area, this result also comports with the trial court's statutory authority to control proceedings before it. Utah Code Ann. §§ 78-7-5, 78-7-17. Because Barnard's actions interfered with the administration of justice and resulted in wasted time and effort by opposing counsel, we conclude that the award in question was squarely within the bounds of the trial court's authority. Although not explicitly provided for by rule, such awards are within the inherent powers of the court and are in fact imposed regularly as a means of controlling the conduct of attorneys and litigants. Therefore, we hold that the district court properly exercised its subject matter jurisdiction in ordering Barnard to pay the attorney fees. We have considered the other arguments raised by the parties on appeal and find them to be without merit. In conclusion, we affirm the orders of the trial court. HALL, C.J., HOWE, Associate C.J., and STEWART and ZIMMERMAN, JJ., concur.