South Carolina § 11-35-4330 - Frivolous protests.

§ 11-35-4330. Frivolous protests.

(1) Signature on Protest Constitutes Certificate. The signature of an attorney or party on a request for review, protest, motion, or other document constitutes a certificate by the signer that the signer has read the document, to the best of his 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 it is not interposed for an improper purpose, such as to harass, limit competition, or to cause unnecessary delay or needless increase in the cost of the procurement or of the litigation.

(2) Sanctions for Violations. If a request for review, protest, pleading, motion, or other document that is filed with the chief procurement officer or the Procurement Review Panel is signed in violation of this subsection, the Procurement Review Panel, upon motion or upon its own initiative, may impose upon the person who signed it, a represented party, or both, an appropriate sanction that 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 protest, pleading, motion, or other paper, including a reasonable attorney's fee.

(3) Filing. A motion regarding a matter that is not otherwise before the panel may not be filed until after a final decision has been issued by the appropriate chief procurement officer. A motion for sanctions pursuant to this section must be filed with the panel no later than fifteen days after the later of either the filing of a request for review, protest, motion, or other document signed in violation of this section, or the issuance of an order that addresses the request for review, protest, motion, or other document that is the subject of the motion for sanctions.

HISTORY: 1993 Act No. 178, SECTION 36; 1997 Act No. 153, SECTION 1; 2006 Act No. 376, SECTION 55.