Court Opinion

ID: 9680083
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 07:19:15.2511+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:25.331561
License: Public Domain

Annabelle Clinton Imber, Justice, concurring. I concur with the result reached by the majority because Arkansas Code Annotated § 16-114-209(b)(3)(B) (Repl. 2006) conflicts with Rule 11 of the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure. Section 16-114-209(a) authorizes the imposition of appropriate sanctions if a party or attorney files a medical malpractice action without “reasonable cause.” In effect, the statutory authorization in § 16-114-209(a) mirrors Ark. R. Civ. P. 11, which empowers the circuit court to impose “appropriate sanctions” on any party or attorney who files a pleading without forming a belief based on reasonable inquiry that the pleading is “well grounded in fact and is warranted by existing law or a good faith argument for the extension, modification, or reversal of existing law, and that it is not interposed for any improper purpose, such as to harass[,] . . . cause unnecessary delay or needless increase in the cost of litigation.” Both Rule 11 and § 16-114-209(a) allow the circuit court to use its discretion when determining the appropriate sanction. Thus, it is clear that § 16-114-209(a) does not conflict with Rule 11. The same cannot be said for section 16-114-209(b)(3)(B), in that it completely strips the circuit court of its discretion in the imposition of sanctions. This statutory provision mandates a particular sanction — the dismissal of a medical malpractice action — that conflicts with Rule 11 in two respects. First, the statute requires a particular sanction, whereas Rule 11 affords the circuit court broad discretion to decide an “appropriate sanction.” Second, it provides no opportunity for the plaintiff to withdraw or correct the alleged deficiency after notice of the challenge. Rule 11 specifically bars the filing of a motion for sanctions unless “the challenged paper, claim, defense, contention, allegation, or denial is not withdrawn or appropriately corrected,” within 21 days after service of the motion, or such other period as the court may prescribe. Ark. R. Civ. P. 11(b). Thus, our rule allows for a “safe harbor” during which a party may, without penalty, correct an alleged deficiency. As the majority noted, the Arkansas Constitution expressly grants this court the authority to develop rules of pleading, practice, and procedure. Ark. Const, amend. 80, § 3. I would reverse and remand because § 16-114-209(b)(3)(B) is directly in conflict with Rule 11 of our Civil Rules of Procedure and this court’s authority under amendment 80 of the Arkansas Constitution. Glaze, J., joins this concurrence.