Williams v. United States (In Re Williams)

SELYA, Circuit Judge.

This case presents a question of first impression in this circuit: Are a trial court’s published findings of attorney misconduct, originally rendered in support of monetary sanctions, independently appealable, notwithstanding that the monetary sanctions imposed by the court for that conduct have been nullified? Our sister circuits are divided on this important question. Compare Bolte v. Home Ins. Co., 744 F.2d 572, 572-73 (7th Cir.1984), with Walker v. City of Mesquite, Tex., 129 F.3d 831, 832-33 (5th Cir. 1997). We conclude that the court’s findings, simpliciter, are not…