Jorgenson v. County of Volusia
United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
846 F.2d 1350 (1988)
Attorneys Latinsky and Fendt (plaintiffs' counsel) filed for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction on behalf of their client Jorgenson, challenging a local ordinance enacted by Volusia County (defendant), and filed a supporting memorandum that never mentioned two directly adverse, controlling cases — including one, City of Daytona Beach v. Del Percio, in which Latinsky himself had previously participated and which held the county's ordinance entitled to a presumption of validity. Latinsky and Fendt made arguments directly contrary to Del Percio's holding without ever telling the district court the case existed, though opposing counsel eventually cited it in their own briefs. The district court sanctioned the attorneys under FRCP 11 for failing to cite the adverse controlling authority, and they appealed the sanctions.
Whether, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11, a lawyer has a duty to not mislead courts as to the state of the law and to disclose adverse, controlling precedent.