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JUSTICE O'CONNOR delivered the opinion of the Court.

This case presents three issues related to the application of Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure: whether a district court may impose Rule 11 sanctions on a plaintiff who has voluntarily dismissed his complaint pursuant to Rule 41(a)(1)(i) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure; what constitutes the appropriate standard of appellate review of a district court's imposition of Rule 11 sanctions; and whether Rule 11 authorizes awards of attorney's fees incurred on appeal of a Rule 11 sanction.*

I

In 1983, Danik, Inc., owned and operated a number of discount men's clothing stores in the Washington, D. C., area. In June 1983, Intercontinental Apparel, a subsidiary of respondent Hartmarx Corp., brought a breach-of-contract action against Danik in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Danik, represented by the law firm of Cooter & Gell (petitioner), responded to the suit by filing a counterclaim against Intercontinental, alleging violations of the Robinson-Patman Act, 49 Stat. 1526, 15 U. S. C. § 13. In March 1984, the District Court granted summary judgment for Intercontinental in its suit against Danik, and, in February 1985, a jury returned a verdict for Intercontinental on Danik's counterclaim. Both judgments were affirmed on appeal. Danik, Inc. v. Intercontinental Apparel, Inc., 245 U. S. App. D. C. 233, 759 F. 2d 959 (1985) (judgment order); Intercontinental Apparel, Inc. v. Danik, Inc., 251 U. S. App. D. C. 327, 784 F. 2d 1131 (1986) (judgment order).

While this litigation was proceeding, petitioner prepared two additional antitrust complaints against Hartmarx and its

*Because petitioner did not raise the argument that Rule 11 sanctions could only be imposed against the two attorneys who signed the complaint, see Pavelic & LeFlore v. Marvel Entertainment Group, 493 U. S. 120 (1989), either in the courts below or in its petition for certiorari here, we decline to consider it. See, e. g., Browning-Ferris Industries v. Kelco Disposal, Inc., 492 U. S. 257 (1989).

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two subsidiaries, respondents Hart, Schaffner & Marx and Hickey-Freeman Co. One of the complaints, the one giving rise to the Rule 11 sanction at issue in this case, alleged a nationwide conspiracy to fix prices and to eliminate competition through an exclusive retail agent policy and uniform pricing scheme, as well as other unfair competition practices such as resale price maintenance and territorial restrictions. App. 3-14.

Petitioner filed the two complaints in November 1983. Respondents moved to dismiss the antitrust complaint at issue, alleging, among other things, that Danik's allegations had no basis in fact. Respondents also moved for sanctions under Rule 11. In opposition to the Rule 11 motion, petitioner filed three affidavits setting forth the prefiling research that supported the allegations in the complaint. Id., at 16-17, 22-23, 24-27. In essence, petitioner's research consisted of telephone calls to salespersons in a number of men's clothing stores in New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D. C. Petitioner inferred from this research that only one store in each major metropolitan area nationwide sold Hart, Schaffner & Marx suits.

In April 1984, petitioner filed a notice of voluntary dismissal of the complaint, pursuant to Rule 41(a)(1)(i). The dismissal became effective in July 1984, when the District Court granted petitioner's motion to dispense with notice of dismissal to putative class members. In June 1984, before the dismissal became effective, the District Court heard oral argument on the Rule 11 motion. The District Court took the Rule 11 motion under advisement.

In December 1987, 32 years after its hearing on the motion and after dismissal of the complaint, the District Court ordered respondents to submit a statement of costs and attorney's fees. Respondents filed a statement requesting $61,917.99 in attorney's fees. Two months later, the District Court granted respondents' motion for Rule 11 sanctions, holding that petitioner's prefiling inquiry was grossly inade

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quate. Specifically, the District Court found that the allegations in the complaint regarding exclusive retail agency arrangements for Hickey-Freeman clothing were completely baseless because petitioner researched only the availability of Hart, Schaffner & Marx menswear. In addition, the District Court found that petitioner's limited survey of only four Eastern cities did not support the allegation that respondents had exclusive retailer agreements in every major city in the United States. Accordingly, the District Court determined that petitioner violated Rule 11 and imposed a sanction of $21,452.52 against petitioner and $10,701.26 against Danik.

The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed the imposition of Rule 11 sanctions. Danik, Inc. v. Hartmarx Corp., 277 U. S. App. D. C. 333, 875 F. 2d 890 (1989). Three aspects of its decision are at issue here.

First, the Court of Appeals rejected petitioner's argument that Danik's voluntary dismissal of the antitrust complaint divested the District Court of jurisdiction to rule upon the Rule 11 motion. After reviewing the decisions of other Circuits considering the issue, the Court of Appeals concluded that "the policies behind Rule 11 do not permit a party to escape its sanction by merely dismissing an unfounded case." Id., at 337, 875 F. 2d, at 894. The court reasoned that because Rule 11 sanctions served to punish and deter, they secured the proper functioning of the legal system "independent of the burdened party's interest in recovering its expenses." Id., at 338, 875 F. 2d, at 895. Accordingly, the court held that such sanctions must "be available in appropriate circumstances notwithstanding a private party's effort to cut its losses and run out of court, using Rule 41 as an emergency exit." Ibid.

Second, the Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court's determination that petitioner had violated Rule 11. Petitioner's arguments failed to "cal[1] into doubt" the two fatal deficiencies identified by the District Court. Rather, peti

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tioner's "account of [its] efforts d[id] no more than confirm these shortcomings." Ibid.

Third, the Court of Appeals considered respondents' claim that petitioner should also pay the expenses respondents incurred in defending its Rule 11 award on appeal. Relying on Westmoreland v. CBS, Inc., 248 U. S. App. D. C. 255, 770 F.2d 1168 (1985), the Court of Appeals held that an appellant that successfully defends a Rule 11 award is entitled to recover its attorney's fees on appeal and remanded the case to the District Court to determine the amount of reasonable attorney's fees and to enter an appropriate award.

II

The Rules Enabling Act, 28 U. S. C. § 2072, authorizes the Court to "prescribe general rules of practice and procedure and rules of evidence for cases in the United States district courts (including proceedings before Magistrates thereof) and courts of appeals." The Court has no authority to enact rules that "abridge, enlarge or modify any substantive right." Ibid. Pursuant to this authority, the Court promulgated the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to "govern the procedure in the United States district courts in all suits of a civil nature." Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 1. We therefore interpret Rule 11 according to its plain meaning, see Pavelic & LeFlore v. Marvel Entertainment Group, 493 U. S. 120, 123 (1989), in light of the scope of the congressional authorization.

Rule 11 provides, in full:

"Every pleading, motion, and other paper of a party represented by an attorney shall be signed by at least one attorney of record in the attorney's individual name, whose address shall be stated. A party who is not represented by an attorney shall sign the party's pleading, motion, or other paper and state the party's address. Except when otherwise specifically provided by rule or statute, pleadings need not be verified or accompanied by affidavit. The rule in equity that the averments of

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an answer under oath must be overcome by the testimony of two witnesses or of one witness sustained by corroborating circumstances is abolished. The signature of an attorney or party constitutes a certificate by the signer that the signer has read the pleading, motion, or other paper; that to the best of the signer's knowledge, information, and belief formed after reasonable inquiry it is well grounded in fact and is warranted by existing law or a good faith argument for the extension, modification, or reversal of existing law, and that it is not interposed for any improper purpose, such as to harass or to cause unnecessary delay or needless increase in the cost of litigation. If a pleading, motion, or other paper is not signed, it shall be stricken unless it is signed promptly after the omission is called to the attention of the pleader or movant. If a pleading, motion, or other paper is signed in violation of this rule, the court, upon motion or upon its own initiative, shall impose upon the person who signed it, a represented party, or both, an appropriate sanction, which may include an order to pay to the other party or parties the amount of the reasonable expenses incurred because of the filing of the pleading, motion, or other paper, including a reasonable attorney's fee."

An interpretation of the current Rule 11 must be guided, in part, by an understanding of the deficiencies in the original version of Rule 11 that led to its revision. The 1938 version of Rule 11 required an attorney to certify by signing the pleading "that to the best of his knowledge, information, and belief there is good ground to support [the pleading]; and that it is not interposed for delay . . . or is signed with intent to defeat the purpose of this rule." 28 U. S. C., pp. 2616-2617 (1940 ed.). An attorney who willfully violated the rule could be "subjected to appropriate disciplinary action.” Ibid. Moreover, the pleading could "be stricken as sham and false and the action [could] proceed as though the pleading had not

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