Pavelic & Leflore v. Marvel Entertainment Group, a Division of Cadence Industries Corp., et al.

Decided December 5, 1989. Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 88-791 · 493 U.S. 120 (1989) · Cited 665 times

Holding

When read in the context of all of Rule 11's signature provisions, the phrase "person who signed" connotes the individual signer mentioned at the outset of the Rule and authorizes a court to impose a sanction only against that individual.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 8–1.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Rubin v. United States · 449 U.S. 424 (1981)
• Walker v. Armco Steel Corp. · 446 U.S. 740 (1980)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Business Guides, Inc. v. Chromatic Communications Enterprises, Inc. · 498 U.S. 533 (1991)
• Cooter & Gell v. Hartmarx Corp. · 496 U.S. 384 (1990)
• King v. Burwell · 576 U.S. 473 (2015)
• Chambers v. Nasco, Inc. · 501 U.S. 32 (1991)
• Fogerty v. Fantasy, Inc. · 510 U.S. 517 (1994)
• Board of Ed. of Westside Community Schools (Dist. 66) v. Mergens · 496 U.S. 226 (1990)
• Harbison v. Bell · 556 U.S. 180 (2009)
• United States v. Granderson · 511 U.S. 39 (1994)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Antonin Scalia’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1989). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).