Eavenson, Auchmuty & Greenwald v. Holtzman

Present HIGGINBOTHAM and BECKER, Circuit Judges, and LACEY, District Judge* BECKER, Circuit Judge. This case presents the question whether we have appellate jurisdiction over an order of a district court imposing a monetary sanction against an attorney pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 11 where the sanctionee has since withdrawn his appearance in favor of substituted counsel and the district court has not yet entered a final judgment in the underlying action. For the reasons that follow, we conclude that the district court's order is appealable as a collateral order under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 (1982). We further conclude that the district court's ruling upon which the sanction order was based was ambiguous; hence, the imposition of sanctions upon counsel for failing to conform to the court's understanding of the order constituted an abuse of discretion. We therefore reverse.