Patrick Townsend v. Holman Consulting Corporation

914 F.2d 1136 59 USLW 2169 , 17 Fed.R.Serv.3d 801 Patrick TOWNSEND, Karen Townsend, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. HOLMAN CONSULTING CORPORATION, Defendant, and Towers, Perrin, Forster & Crosby; Trust Services of America, Inc.; American Insurance Administrators; International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 12, AFL-CIO, Defendants-Appellees. Nos. 87-5825, 87-6154. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted Jan. 18, 1990. Decided Sept. 6, 1990. Fred L. Wright and Ralph Rogari, Torrance, Cal., for plaintiffs-appellants. Robert G. Wilson and John P. Reitman, Wilson & Reitman, Los Angeles, Cal., for defendants-appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Before GOODWIN, Chief Judge, WALLACE, TANG, FLETCHER, PREGERSON, POOLE, NELSON, CANBY, NOONAN, O'SCANNLAIN, and TROTT, Circuit Judges. FLETCHER, Circuit Judge: 1 Fred Wright, attorney for the Townsends, appeals two orders of the district court imposing sanctions under Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. He argues that even though he signed pleadings containing certain frivolous requests for relief, the pleadings nonetheless could not be the…