Wisconsin’s Democratic governor has filed a formal demand in federal court for “$145,000 in legal fees the state spent to defend against the former Republican president’s unsuccessful effort to overturn its 2020 election results,” Reuters reported on Thursday, April 1, 2021. Read story here.
Unlike in British courts, where the loser must reimburse the winner’s legal expenses, in U.S. courts parties usually bear their own legal costs — but their are some exceptions, for example where a statute awards attorney’s fees to the prevailing party (a common feature of consumer protection laws).
Under court rules, judges at their discretion can order a party who filed a frivolous lawsuit to defray the other side’s legal expenses. This is commonly referred to as “Rule 11 sanctions,” because that’s viewed as a penalty and the authority to impose it is found in Rule 11 of federal and state civil rules.
Wisconsin’s attorneys argue Trump’s election challenge was brought “in bad faith.” In Wisconsin, as in several other states, Trump and his campaign targeted areas of the state with large black populations for recounts, election challenges, and bogus “fraud” claims.
The state’s argument appears to be that the election lawsuit wasn’t serious and was only a P.R. stunt to help further Trump’s nationwide effort to portray the election as “stolen” by making spurious and unproven “fraud” claims that were rejected by dozens of courts around the country.
Reading the article one thing is unclear. Just how does the Governor of Wisconsin have standing?
The state has standing as the defendant in the lawsuit, and the governor has authority to demand reimbursement of the state’s expenses.