Georgia andrews v. John T. Bible and Paul

This appeal concerns the denial by the Circuit Court of Anderson County of a motion for Rule 11 sanctions brought against Georgia Andrews, Plaintiff-Appellee, and her attorney, Michael W. Ritter. The sanctions were sought by John and Paul Bible, Defendants-Appellants, after a workers compensation action filed against them was voluntarily nonsuited by the Plaintiff. The issues in this case of first impression are (1) whether Plaintiffs counsel performed an objectively reasonable prefiling investigation, factually and legally, comporting with the requirements of Rule 11 and, (2) whether attorneys have a duty under Rule 11 to take remedial action post-filing, once it is discovered that their pleadings, motions, or other papers are ungrounded factually or are legally meritless. Stated another way, do lawyers have a continuing obligation under Rule 11 to review and reevaluate their pleadings, motions, and other papers after filing, and to immediately dismiss, withdraw, or otherwise modify them when subsequent developments render such legally or factually baseless? We hold that there is no such obligation under Rule 11 and that Plaintiffs counsel in the present case performed an adequate prefiling investigation. Accordingly, we affirm the Disposition of this case made by the trial court.