Short answer. Yes. Under Rule 7, every signature on a pleading certifies that it is not presented for any improper purpose, such as to harass, cause unnecessary delay, or needlessly increase litigation costs. After notice and hearing, the court may sanction the attorney, law firm, or party responsible, or refer the violation for disciplinary action.
What the law says
It is not being presented for any improper purpose, such as to harass, cause unnecessary delay, or needlessly increase the cost of litigation
Rule 7, Section 3 — Signature and address. Read the full provision →
What the law says
The lawyer or law firm cannot pass on the monetary penalty to the client.
Rule 7, Section 3 — Signature and address. Read the full provision →
A signature is a certification
Rule 7, Section 3 turns the routine act of signing a pleading into a set of sworn-quality undertakings. Counsel's signature certifies that the pleading was read, and that after an inquiry reasonable under the circumstances: It is not being presented for any improper purpose, such as to harass, cause unnecessary delay, or needlessly increase the cost of litigation; the claims and defenses are warranted by existing law or jurisprudence, or by a non-frivolous argument for changing it; and the factual contentions have evidentiary support or are identified as likely to have it after discovery. A pleading filed to wear the other side down breaches the certification the moment it is signed.
How the sanction process works
The court may act on motion or motu proprio — on its own initiative — but only after notice and hearing. If it finds the rule violated, it may impose an appropriate sanction or refer such violation to the proper office for disciplinary action, and the target may be any attorney, law firm, or party that violated the rule, or is responsible for the violation. Note the breadth: the party who directed the filing is exposed alongside the lawyer who signed it, and the process can run inside the case itself, without a separate suit.
What the sanctions can be
The menu is open-ended: a non-monetary directive or sanction; an order to pay a penalty in court; or, where imposed on motion and warranted for effective deterrence, an order to pay the movant part or all of the reasonable attorney's fees and other expenses directly resulting from the violation — including the fees for the sanctions motion itself. Two allocation rules sharpen the sting. Absent exceptional circumstances, a law firm shall be held jointly and severally liable for a violation by its partner, associate, or employee. And The lawyer or law firm cannot pass on the monetary penalty to the client.
Using the rule when you are on the receiving end
For a litigant facing a barrage of filings that exist only to delay, this rule is the counterpunch: a motion for sanctions that documents the pattern — the repetitive motions, the contradicted factual claims, the arguments with no legal footing — and asks for the fees those filings cost. The prospect of paying the other side's attorney's fees personally, unshiftable to the client, changes behaviour in a way indignation never does. The rule is equally a warning for anyone tempted to file aggressively: the certification is made by you, and its price is paid by you.