Raafat Mohammadkhani v. James Anthony

MEMORANDUM

Appellant Raafat Mohammadkhani and her attorney, Randy Rumph, appeal the district court’s order awarding costs and attorney’s fees against Mohammadkhani, and sanctioning Rumph by holding him jointly and severally liable for the award. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We review for abuse of discretion both the district court’s award of fees, Tutor-Saliba Corp. v. City of Hailey, 452 F.3d 1055, 1059 (9th Cir.2006), and its imposition of sanctions, Weissman v. Quail Lodge, Inc., 179 F.3d 1194, 1197 (9th Cir.1999).

We are unable to determine whether the district court acted within its discretion in awarding fees against Mohammadkhani because the court did not clearly identify the legal and factual bases for the award. In civil rights cases, a district court may award attorney’s fees to a prevailing defendant only in exceptional circumstances where the plaintiffs claims are frivolous, unreasonable, or groundless. Christiansburg Garment Co. v. E.E.O.C., 434 U.S. 412, 418-22 , 98 S.Ct. 694 , 54 L.Ed.2d 648 (1978); Harris v. Maricopa Cnty. Super. Ct., 631 F.3d 963, 971 (9th Cir.2011). A claim is not frivolous in this context merely because the plaintiff did…