On March 31, 2010, after giving plaintiff’s counsel K.C. Okoli (“Okoli”) an opportunity to be heard, and for reasons stated on the record, I ordered Mr. Okoli to pay a fine of $250 to the Clerk of the court “for his failure to comply with a prior scheduling order and his failure to provide timely notice of his inability to comply.” Docket Entry 24. Briefly stated, by failing to timely alert me of a scheduling conflict about which he had long been aware, Okoli twice failed to comply with my order requiring timely notice and a showing of good cause for an adjournment request, and as a result he effectively failed to participate in the settlement conference. Because my law clerk had been diligent enough to chase after Okoli and learn of the problem in sufficient time to adjourn the conference on each occasion, albeit with little notice to his adversary, there was no basis for the imposition of a sanction that would require Okoli to reimburse any costs. Accordingly, because I concluded that Okoli’s conduct was sanctionable despite the absence of prejudice to the defendants, I ordered him to pay a modest fine. While I continue to believe that Okoli’s conduct was sanctionable, I conclude for the reasons set forth below that the imposition of a punitive monetary fine, however modest, exceeds my authority as circumscribed by the case law of this circuit. I therefore vacate the order.
There are a number of circumstances in which an attorney’s misconduct may result in an enforceable order to pay a monetary fine to the court itself, as distinguished from an order requiring the attorney to reimburse an adversary’s costs. See, e.g., Fed. R. Civ. P. 11(c)(4) (monetary sanction for frivolous litigation); Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(b)(1), (b)(2)(A)(vii) (providing that failure to comply with certain discovery orders may be treated “as contempt of court”); Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(f)(1) (providing same authority, by incorporation of Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(b)2)(A)(vii), as sanction for an attorney’s failure to appear at court proceedings, to prepare for and participate in good faith in a settlement conference, or to obey a scheduling or pretrial order); In re Cooper, 2010 WL 605272, at *6 (2d Cir. Feb. 22, 2010) (citing authority to impose monetary sanction for disciplinary violation pursuant to U.S. Ct. App. 2d Cir., Rules of the Comm. on Admissions and Grievances, R. 6); Mackler Prods., Inc. v. Cohen, 146 F.3d 126, 128 (2d Cir. 1998) (noting court’s authority to impose monetary sanctions for contempt or pursuant to court’s inherent authority).