## Facts

- A Kittatinny Regional High School student was suspended after admitting classroom misconduct, including sleeping in class and threatening a teacher.
- The student received two hearings concerning the suspension.
- The student’s attorney filed a federal civil-rights action against the school board and various school personnel.
- The complaint asserted (1) a due process challenge to the suspension and (2) a conspiracy claim alleging school officials sought to pressure the student’s mother to place him in a school for the emotionally disturbed.
- The record showed the student was never placed in a school for the emotionally disturbed.
- Defendants moved for summary judgment and for sanctions under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11.
- The attorney did not oppose the summary-judgment motion, responded to the sanctions request only after sanctions were granted at the magistrate level, and repeatedly failed to comply with case-management and discovery obligations and to appear timely for proceedings.
- The magistrate judge recommended Rule 11 sanctions and found additional violations of New Jersey professional conduct rules (RPC 3.1, 3.2, and 1.3).
- No objections were filed to the magistrate judge’s report and recommendation.

## Issues

1. Whether the attorney’s filing and litigation conduct warranted sanctions under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11.
2. Whether the court could impose a substantial monetary sanction, a filing injunction, a prefiling review requirement, and a referral for disciplinary proceedings based on the attorney’s conduct.

## Decision

- The district court adopted the magistrate judge’s report and recommendation in full.
- The court found the attorney violated Rule 11 and New Jersey RPC 3.1 (meritorious claims), RPC 3.2 (expediting litigation), and RPC 1.3 (diligence).
- The court ordered the attorney to pay defendants $100,000.
- The court permanently enjoined the attorney from filing, as an attorney, complaints involving Kittatinny Regional High School.
- The court directed the clerk to refuse any other complaint the attorney sought to file unless first reviewed and approved by the duty judge.
- The court referred the matter to the chief judge for potential disciplinary proceedings.

## Legal Principles

- Rule 11 authorizes sanctions when an attorney submits claims not warranted by existing law or a nonfrivolous argument for change in the law, or when factual contentions lack evidentiary support after reasonable inquiry.
- Sanctions under Rule 11 may include substantial monetary awards payable to the opposing party and nonmonetary measures designed to deter repetition, including filing restrictions and court screening of future filings.
- A student-discipline due process claim may lack a sufficient legal or factual basis when the student admits the charged conduct and the school provides hearings consistent with constitutional minimums.
- Persistent pursuit of previously rejected theories, particularly after prior sanctions involving similar claims, supports a finding that an attorney’s conduct is sanctionable and may justify stronger deterrent measures.
- Repeated failure to meet deadlines, provide discovery, and appear for proceedings can support sanctions and findings of professional misconduct based on lack of diligence and unreasonable delay.

## Conclusion

The court imposed severe Rule 11 and professional-conduct sanctions on the student’s attorney—including a $100,000 payment, a permanent filing injunction against Kittatinny-related complaints, a general prefiling review requirement, and a disciplinary referral—based on legally and factually unsupported claims and sustained dilatory, noncompliant litigation conduct.


Giangrasso v. Kittatinny Reg'l High Sch. Bd. of Educ., 865 F. Supp. 1133 (D.N.J. 1994)