The following excerpt is from Johnson v. Hall, No. 2: 19-cv-1752 MCE KJN P (E.D. Cal. 2020):
Sanctions are authorized for Rule 11 violations. When a "complaint is the primary focus of Rule 11 proceedings, a district court must conduct a two-prong inquiry to determine (1) whether the complaint is legally or factually baseless from an objective perspective, and (2) if the attorney has conducted a reasonable and competent inquiry before signing and filing it." Holgate v. Baldwin, 425 F.3d 671, 676 (9th Cir. 2005) (quoting Christian v. Mattel, Inc., 286 F.3d 1118, 1127 (9th Cir. 2002)). "As shorthand for this test, the word 'frivolous' is used 'to denote a filing that is both baseless and made without a reasonable and competent inquiry.'" Magic Leap, Inc. v. Bradski, 2017 WL 7243566, at *1 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 10, 2017) (citations omitted).
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