James Miller v. American Family Mutual Insuran

MEMORANDUM

James Miller appeals the district court’s judgment imposing sanctions in the form of attorneys’ fees for bad faith litigation conduct, specifically, nondisclosure to the court of a relevant bankruptcy action and subsequent discharge. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we now affirm.

1.

Mr. Miller raises two arguments on appeal. However, in the district court, he presented neither point in response to the defendants’ motion for sanctions. He raised them in the district court only on a motion to reconsider the imposition of sanctions. The district court declined to reconsider its decision because Mr. Miller “had ready access to” the evidence that he had submitted with the motion to reconsider “when opposing the motion for sanctions” in the first instance.

We agree with the district court that Mr. Miller’s late arguments did not require reconsideration. Not only did he fail to raise these arguments when the motion for sanctions was ready for decision in the district court, but the arguments that Mr. Miller originally had made in opposing sanctions conceded that he had failed to disclose the bankruptcy in this litigation and that he had failed to disclose…