NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS AUG 12 2020
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
EUROSESMILLAS, S.A., No. 19-16202
Plaintiff-counter- D.C. No. 3:17-cv-03159-TSH
defendant,
v. MEMORANDUM*
MOHAN UTTARWAR; PIYUSH GUPTA,
Third-party-defendants-
Appellants,
v.
PLC DIAGNOSTICS, INC.; et al.,
Defendants-third-party-
plaintiffs-cross-claimants-
Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of California
Thomas S. Hixson, Magistrate Judge, Presiding
Submitted August 10, 2020**
San Francisco, California
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
Before: CHRISTEN and OWENS, Circuit Judges, and BATAILLON,*** District
Judge.
Mohan Uttarwar and Piyush Gupta appeal from the district court’s denial of
their motion for sanctions under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11. We review
for an abuse of discretion a district court’s decision regarding Rule 11 sanctions.
Holgate v. Baldwin, 425 F.3d 671, 675 (9th Cir. 2005). As the parties are familiar
with the facts, we do not recount them here. We affirm.
An attorney may be subject to Rule 11 sanctions if he or she files a pleading
that is frivolous or presented for an improper purpose. See Fed. R. Civ. P.
11(b)(1)-(2); Holgate, 425 F.3d at 675-76. Here, the district court concluded that
sanctions were unwarranted because the Third Party Complaint was not frivolous
or brought for an improper purpose. This decision was within the district court’s
broad discretion in such matters. See Holgate, 425 F.3d at 675; see also Operating
Eng’rs Pension Tr. v. A-C Co., 859 F.2d 1336, 1344 (9th Cir. 1988) (noting that
Rule 11 sanctions are generally reserved for “rare and exceptional” cases).
AFFIRMED.
***
The Honorable Joseph F. Bataillon, United States District Judge for
the District of Nebraska, sitting by designation.
2