From Ledford v. Peeples, 605 F.3d 871 (11th Cir. 2010) (Note: This opinion is on reconsideration and modifies the opinion reported in our post of July 8, 2009):

We pause here to elucidate the meaning of abuse of discretion review in the PSLRA context. We find it helpful to explain how abuse of discretion review differs from de novo review.

By definition . . . under the abuse of discretion standard of review there will be occasions in which we affirm the district court even though we would have gone the other way had it been our call. That is how an abuse of discretion standard differs from a de novo standard of review. As we have stated previously, the abuse of discretion standard allows "a range of choice for the district court, so long as that choice does not constitute a clear error of judgment."

[Citations omitted.] "The application of an abuse-of-discretion review recognizes the range of possible conclusions the trial judge may reach." ... Therefore, when reviewing the elements of a district court's decision of whether to impose sanctions, the relevant question is not whether we would have come to the same decision if deciding the issue in the first instance. The relevant inquiry, rather, is whether the district court's decision was tenable, or, we might say, "in the ballpark" of permissible outcomes.

When deciding to impose sanctions under Rule 11(b)(1) and (b)(3), the ballpark will usually be larger than the ballpark in a Rule 11(b)(2) determination. That is because Rule 11(b)(1) and (b)(3) determinations are usually more fact-based and may involve credibility assessments. In a Rule 11(b)(2) determination, where the only issue is whether the asserted claim is warranted by existing law, the size of the ballpark will depend on how clear the substantive law is. Where the substantive law is very clear as to when a particular claim is permissible, the district court is more constrained in deciding whether the claim is warranted by existing law. In some cases, the law will be so clear that the district court can only decide the question one way without abusing its discretion.

[Footnote 147] On appeal, we review whether the district court's findings of fact were "clearly erroneous" and whether the court's legal rulings were based on "an erroneous view of the law." See Cooter & Gell, 496 U.S. at 405, 110 S. Ct. at 2461.

[Footnote 148] The Rule 11(b)(2) determination is whether counsel's view of the law supporting the plaintiff's claim is tenable — a legal rather than a factual determination. There may be wider discretion in deciding what is tenable in a Rule 11(b)(2) decision regarding whether counsel's argument for a change in the law was nonfrivolous.

We provide an example to illustrate these points. Suppose a district court grants a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss a claim, but declines to find a violation of Rule 11(b)(2). The plaintiff appeals the Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal, and the defendant cross-appeals the denial of Rule 11(b)(2) sanctions. In the plaintiff's appeal, applying the de novo standard of review, we affirm the Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal because there is no legal support for the claim. In the defendant's cross-appeal, applying the abuse of discretion standard, we affirm the denial of sanctions because the district court's Rule 11(b)(2) compliance finding was in the ballpark of permissible outcomes. If, however, the law governing the plaintiff's claim was well-settled, and clearly precluded the claim, the ballpark would be very small. If, under those circumstances, we concluded that the plaintiff's, and thus the district court's, view of the law was untenable, we would reverse the district court's sanctions ruling and remand the case for the imposition of an appropriate sanction. ***

When a district court's findings of fact and conclusions of law do little more than restate the elements of the applicable statute, we ordinarily vacate the decision and remand the case for further findings and conclusions. See, e.g., Tilton v. Playboy Entm't Group, Inc., 554 F.3d 1371, 1379 (11th Cir. 2009) ("Because the district court did not articulate the reasoning behind its decision to deny Tilton's request for attorney's fees, we remand to the district court to make appropriate factual findings or to provide a reason for declining to award attorney's fees."); Serra Chevrolet, Inc. v. Gen. Motors Corp., 446 F.3d 1137, 1152 (11th Cir. 2006) (remanding and instructing the district court to "provide a rationale" and a "record of its reasons" for any fine imposed as a sanction under Rule 37, sufficient to "afford meaningful review"). We use the word "ordinarily" because a remand is not necessary in all cases; in some cases, the record on appeal may be sufficiently developed to enable us to adjudicate the merits of the appeal. Here, the merits turn on whether a reasonably competent attorney could have filed and prosecuted the Count One claims without violating Rule 11(b). If the record establishes conclusively that a reasonably competent attorney could have done so, our review would end there; the district court's decision denying sanctions could not have constituted an abuse of discretion.

[Footnote 151] By conclusively, we mean that we can deduce from the record that any decision by a district court not to impose sanctions would constitute an abuse of discretion.

By the same token, if the record establishes conclusively that no reasonably competent attorney could have filed and prosecuted any of those claims, the district court's decision denying sanctions would have constituted an abuse of discretion. In that case, we would reverse the district court's decision with respect to the claims a reasonably competent attorney could not have presented and remand the case for the imposition of sanctions. *** Still, a remand for "specific findings" would be in order as to the Rule 11 issues incapable of appellate review. ***

In assessing plaintiffs' attorneys' compliance with Rule 11(b), the district court failed explicitly to recognize that each of the five plaintiffs had sought relief against Peeples in Count One under three theories of liability, for violations of Rules 10b-5(a) and (b) and § 20(a). Count One therefore presented a total of fifteen claims. Instead of treating Count One as presenting fifteen separate claims, the district court bunched the fifteen claims together and considered them as a whole. This is precisely how plaintiffs' counsel drafted the complaint: counsel bunched the federal securities fraud claims together with allegations that the Active Members, in failing to disclose their arrangements with Peeples, breached the fiduciary duties imposed on them by the Operating Agreement and conspired with Peeples to defraud plaintiffs.

The district court also failed to analyze the Count One claims under each of the subparts of Rule 11. As noted, the PSLRA requires the district court to "include in the record specific findings regarding compliance by each party and each attorney representing any party with each requirement of Rule 11(b) . . . ." 15 U.S.C. § 78u-4(c)(1) (emphasis added). Because the court is mandated to conduct this Rule 11 assessment, that a party has or has not moved the court to impose sanctions under the PSLRA, on the ground, for example, that opposing counsel failed to comply with a certain subpart of Rule 11, is of no moment. In sum, in this case, the district court was obligated to consider each of Count One's fifteen securities claims — the Rules 10b-5(a) and (b) and § 20(a) claims for all five plaintiffs — for compliance with each subpart of Rule 11(b).