Srivastava v. INDIANAPOLIS HEBREW CONG.

• Decision Date: 22 November 2002
• Docket Number: No. 49A02-0112-CV-883.,49A02-0112-CV-883.
• Citation: 779 N.E.2d 52
• Parties: Carolyn H. SRIVASTAVA, Appellant-Plaintiff, v. INDIANAPOLIS HEBREW CONGREGATION, INC., Appellee-Defendant.
• Court: Indiana Appellate Court

779 N.E.2d 52

Carolyn H. SRIVASTAVA, Appellant-Plaintiff, v. INDIANAPOLIS HEBREW CONGREGATION, INC., Appellee-Defendant.

No. 49A02-0112-CV-883.

Court of Appeals of Indiana.

November 22, 2002.

Carolyn H. Srivastava, Indianapolis, IN, Appellant Pro Se.

Paul T. Fulkerson, Skiles, Hansen, Cook & DeTrude, P.A., Indianapolis, IN, Attorney for Appellee.

OPINION

ROBB, Judge.

In April 2000, Carolyn Srivastava initiated a lawsuit against officers and directors of the Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation ("IHC") in the Marion County Clerk's Office. On November 1, 2000, Srivastava filed a motion to dismiss her lawsuit, which motion the court granted without prejudice. On November 20, she refiled her complaint in the Marion County Clerk's Office, asserting essentially the same claims against the same defendants. IHC filed a motion for costs and sanctions related to refiling a previously dismissed lawsuit. The trial court granted the motion and imposed sanctions of $8922.88 against Srivastava. She now brings this interlocutory appeal of the award. We affirm and remand.

Issues

Srivastava raises many issues¹ for our review which we consolidate and restate as:

1. Whether the trial court had jurisdiction to award costs and sanctions² to IHC; and

2. Whether the trial court properly denied Srivastava's request to find several parties in contempt of court.

Facts and Procedural History

On April 13, 2000, Srivastava filed a complaint in the Marion County Clerk's Office that was assigned to Room 3, alleging improper behavior by several directors and officers of IHC. On November 1, she filed a motion to voluntarily dismiss her case. The court granted the motion without prejudice. On November 20, she refiled her complaint in the Marion County Clerk's Office with essentially the same claims and the same defendants. This time, her complaint was assigned to a different courtroom and a different judge. IHC subsequently filed a motion for costs and sanctions associated with refiling a previously dismissed case. After first denying the motion on procedural grounds, the court allowed IHC to refile its motion. On December 5, the court held a hearing on the motion for costs and sanctions and granted the motion, awarding IHC $8922.88, the cost of their attorney's fees from the initial litigation and for preparing and defending the motion for costs and sanctions. This interlocutory appeal ensued.

Discussion and Decision

I. Sanctions Including Attorney's Fees

Srivastava contends that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to award sanctions and costs from a previously dismissed case from another courtroom. Additionally she states that the sanctions included attorney's fees which will go to either IHC's insurance company or counsel, neither of which is a party to the litigation. She contends that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to award costs and sanctions to a non-party.

Also, she argues that Indiana Code section 34-52-1-1(c) precludes an award of attorney's fees because IHC's counsel has already been paid and such an award would result in an improper double award. Finally, she argues that the trial court lacked statutory authority to make such an award to IHC.

A. Jurisdiction to Award Costs and Sanctions From a Case From Another Courtroom

1. Standard of Review

Srivastava argues that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to award sanctions including attorney's fees from a case heard in another courtroom. This is a challenge to the trial court's jurisdiction of the case. Jurisdiction of the case refers to the trial court's right, authority, and power to hear and decide a specific case within the class of cases over which a court has subject matter jurisdiction. In Re Guardianship of K.T., 743 N.E.2d 348, 351 (Ind. Ct.App.2001). A judgment rendered by a court which lacks jurisdiction of the case is voidable by the reviewing court. Id.

2. Trial Court's Award of Costs and Sanctions to IHC

Srivastava contends that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to award sanctions including attorney's fees from a case previously dismissed by a judge in another courtroom in the Marion County Superior Court. She states that her first case was dismissed without prejudice and the trial court did not attach any terms or conditions to that dismissal. Additionally, she notes that IHC did not move for attorney's fees in the first case.

After Srivastava filed her second case, IHC moved for costs and sanctions including attorney's fees. IHC relied on Indiana Trial Rule 41(D) which states:

If a plaintiff who has once dismissed an action in any court commences an action based upon or including the same claim against the same defendant, the court may make such order for the payment of costs of the action previously dismissed as it may deem proper and may stay the proceedings in the action until the plaintiff has complied with the order.

Srivastava contends that Trial Rule 41(D) is unclear as to which court may make the award and therefore, she argues that the court which heard the first case should make the award. However, this reading would not be in the interest of justice or judicial economy. Under Srivastava's interpretation of Rule 41(D), a plaintiff would dismiss her case in one court, refile in another court, and have to return to the first court to argue costs. The second court is in a better position to determine whether costs are appropriate from the refiling of a previously dismissed suit.

The ambiguity of the rule is irrelevant in the present case, however, because both cases were filed in the Marion County Superior Court. The Indiana legislature has established a unified Marion County Superior Court. See Ind.Code § 33-5.1-2-1. The single Marion County Superior Court is divided into rooms for the efficient administration of justice. Ind.Code § 33-5.1-2-9(e). Therefore, although IHC's costs were awarded from a different courtroom and by a different judge, we hold that the trial court had jurisdiction to award costs because both cases were filed in the same court.

3. Costs Under Indiana Trial Rule 41(D)

Additionally, Srivastava argues that attorney's fees are improper under Trial Rule 41(D). We agree. Trial Rule 41(D) allows only for costs. "It has long been established in this State ... that the bare term "costs" does not encompass attorney fees." Maggio v. Lee, 511 N.E.2d 1084, 1085 (Ind.Ct.App.1987) (quoting State v. Holder, 260 Ind. 336, 339, 295 N.E.2d 799, 800 (1973)). In Maggio, we considered whether the phrase "The court may award such costs as will reimburse the other parties for their actual expenses incurred from the delay," as stated in Trial Rule 53.5, would include attorney's fees. 511 N.E.2d at 1085. However, upon looking at similar provisions in other trial rules, we determined that even though Rule 53.5 includes costs incurred from the delay, that phrasing was not specific enough to include attorney's fees. Id. at 1085-86 ("When it is intended that attorney's fees be included among the expenses which a party can recover, the rules expressly authorize the trial court to make such an award.")

The language in Rule 41(D) is similar to Rule 53.5. Rule 41(D) allows a court to make an order for the "payment of costs of the action previously dismissed as it may deem proper...." Because there is no express language in Rule 41(D) allowing for the recovery of attorney's fees, we agree with Srivastava that attorney's fees are not recoverable under that rule. Although attorney's fees are not recoverable under Rule 41(D), costs are recoverable and we hold that the trial court could have properly awarded costs under Rule 41(D).

However, Srivastava fails to note that IHC alternatively asked for costs under Rule 41(D) and sanctions under Rule 11. See [IHC]'s Motion for Costs and Sanctions Associated with Refiling Previously Dismissed Action, Appellant's Appendix at 142-46. The trial court's award matches exactly the amount of attorney's fees claimed by IHC during the hearing on costs and sanctions. Therefore, we believe that the award was a sanction against Srivastava rather than an award of costs, despite the trial court's specific award of "sanctions and costs." Order of January 7, 2002, Appellant's Appendix at 18. Therefore, we must consider whether the trial court properly awarded sanctions including attorney's fees against Srivastava.

4. Sanctions under Rule 11

a. Standard of Review

Under Trial Rule 11, a trial court has the discretion to impose sanctions where it determines that the verified motion contains information that the attorney knew to be false. Noble County v. Rogers, 745 N.E.2d 194, 198 (Ind.2001) (quoting Zwiebel v. Zwiebel, 689 N.E.2d 746, 750 (Ind.Ct.App.1997), trans. denied). A trial court abuses its discretion only if its decision is against the logic and effect of the circumstances before it. Gleason v. Bush, 689 N.E.2d 480, 483-84 (Ind.Ct.App.1997). The trial court's decision will be affirmed if there is any evidence supporting its decision. Id.

b. Award of Sanctions to IHC Under Rule 11

Trial Rule 11(A) requires that every pleading or motion be signed by an attorney or by a plaintiff representing himself. Ind. Trial Rule 11(A). The signature constitutes a certificate that he has read the pleadings and that, to the best of his knowledge, information and belief, there is good ground to support the motion and that it is not interposed for delay. Ind. Trial Rule 11(A). For a willful violation of Trial Rule 11(A), an attorney may be subjected to appropriate disciplinary action. Id. The requirements of certification apply equally to attorneys and pro se litigants. New Albany-Floyd County Educ. Ass'n v. Ammerman, 724 N.E.2d 251, 256 n. 9 (Ind.Ct.App.2000).

Here, Srivastava made representations to the Marion County Superior Court in her Motion to Dismiss Complaint. She stated that she did not "want to remain mired long-term in the morass of negativity which litigation entails. It is too stressful and emotionally...