No. 05-3215 ___________ Stephen E. Jones; Doyle Clark, * * Plaintiffs, * * Thomas R. Buchanan, * * Appellant, * Appeal from the United States * District Court for the v. * Western District of Missouri. * United Parcel Service, Inc.; Local 41 * of the International Brotherhood of * Teamsters, * * Appellees. * ___________

Submitted: March 13, 2006 Filed: August 22, 2006 ___________ Before COLLOTON, HEANEY, and GRUENDER, Circuit Judges. ___________ COLLOTON, Circuit Judge.

Attorney Thomas Buchanan appeals an order sanctioning him $1,000 pursuant to Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and an order requiring him to reimburse attorneys’ fees of $10,000 to United Parcel Service (“UPS”) and $10,000 to Local 41 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (“Local 41”), pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1927. We affirm.

Buchanan represented Stephen Jones and Doyle Clark in their action against UPS and Local 41 for wrongful termination and inadequate union representation. UPS and Local 41 moved for summary judgment on all counts raised by Jones and Clark, and in response, plaintiffs, through Buchanan, filed a 480-page pleading, which included a 168-page statement of controverted facts, a 179-page response to defendants’ statements of uncontroverted facts, and a 132-page argument section. The district court* determined that plaintiffs’ pleading violated Local Rule 56.1, disregarded all of plaintiffs’ statement of controverted facts, and deemed defendants’ statements of uncontroverted facts admitted. See W.D. Mo. R. 56.1(a). The court then granted summary judgment for the defendants on all counts. In an opinion filed today, we conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in finding a violation of the local rule or in disregarding the non-compliant pleading. Jones v. UPS, Inc., Nos. 05-2202, 05-2205, slip op. at 8-11 (8th Cir. Aug. 22, 2006).

The district court, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(c)(1)(B), ordered Buchanan to show cause why he should not be sanctioned, and UPS and Local 41 moved for reimbursement of attorneys’ fees pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1927. Buchanan’s response to the show cause order focused on six specific paragraphs of the plaintiffs’ pleading, which the district court had cited as examples of what it described as “misrepresentations and misstatements,” or attempts at controversion that were either “unsupported by record or blatantly non-responsive.” He requested that if the court intended to base sanctions on “other specific items,” then he should have “an adequate opportunity to respond with explanation.”

* The Honorable Gary A. Fenner, United States District Judge for the Western District of Missouri.

-2- The court’s order imposing sanctions addressed Buchanan’s statements about notice and opportunity to respond. The court explained that its intention in offering six examples of deficient paragraphs in the pleading was “to provide an outline of the objectionable conduct contained in Document 373 as a whole and not to supply an exclusive list of sanctionable actions.” The court reasoned that although Rule 11(c)(1)(B), which permits a court to impose sanctions on its own initiative, requires the court to provide adequate notice prior to levying sanctions, this requirem