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Information about Vexatious Litigation

Vexatious litigation is legal action which is brought, regardless of its merits, solely to harass or subdue an adversary. It may take the form of a primary frivolous lawsuit or may be the repetitive, burdensome, and unwarranted filing of meritless motions in a matter which is otherwise a meritorious cause of action. Filing vexatious litigation is considered an abuse of the judicial process and may bring down sanctions on the offender. Roy L. Pearson, Jr., an Administrative Law Judge in the District of Columbia, who sued a dry-cleaner for $54 million for allegedly losing a pair of his trousers, is sometimes used as an example of a vexatious litigant.

Repeated and severe instances by a single lawyer or firm can result in eventual disbarment.

Some jurisdictions have a list of vexatious litigants: people who have repeatedly abused the legal system. Because lawyers could be disbarred for participating in the abuse, vexatious litigants are often unable to retain legal counsel, and therefore represent themselves in court. Those on the list are usually either forbidden from any further legal action or required to obtain prior permission from a senior judge before taking any legal action. The process by which a person is added to the list varies among jurisdictions.

Law by jurisdiction

California, United States

Under California law[1] a vexatious litigant is someone in at least one of the following categories:
  1. In the immediately preceding seven-year period has commenced, prosecuted, or maintained in propria persona at least five litigations other than in a small claims court that have been (i) finally determined adversely to the person or (ii) unjustifiably permitted to remain pending at least two years without having been brought to trial or hearing.
  2. After a litigation has been finally determined against the person, repeatedly relitigates or attempts to relitigate, in propria persona, either (i) the validity of the determination against the same defendant or defendants as to whom the litigation was finally determined or (ii) the cause of action, claim, controversy, or any of the issues of fact or law, determined or concluded by the final determination against the same defendant or defendants as to whom the litigation was finally determined.
  3. In any litigation while acting in propria persona, repeatedly files unmeritorious motions, pleadings, or other papers, conducts unnecessary discovery, or engages in other tactics that are frivolous or solely intended to cause unnecessary delay.
  4. Has previously been declared to be a vexatious litigant by any state or federal court of record in any action or proceeding based upon the same or substantially similar facts, transaction, or occurrence.

Victoria, Australia

As of 2006, only 13 people - included convicted mass-murderer Julian Knight - had been declared vexatious litigants since the law was introduced in 1930. [2]

United Kingdom

UK courts have the means of escalating the sanctions against a litigant who makes applications to the court that are "totally without merit"[3]:
  • Limited civil restraint order (formerly a Grepe v. Loam Order) where two or more applications totally without merit are made in a single proceedings. No further application may be made in the proceedings without the permission of the court.
  • Extended civil restraint order for "persistently vexatious behaviour" lasts for a specified period of no more than two years for "applications touching upon instant matters" and can only be granted by a judge of the Court of Appeal, High Court or a designated civil judge.
  • General civil restraint order for a maximum of two years for all proceedings in the High Court or specified County Court(s).
Further applications totally without merit can lead to withdrawal of the right of appeal. Harassment of the court and court officials can lead to a penal prohibition notice, prohibiting the litigant from contacting or approaching the court without permission.[4]

HM Courts Service maintains a list of vexatious litigants.[5]

Notable vexatious litigants

References

1. ^ California Code of Civil Procedure, § 391(b)
2. ^ [1]
3. ^ Civil Procedure Rules, Practice Direction to Pt.3 3CPD.2.1
4. ^ O'Hare, J. & Browne, K. (2005). Civil Litigation, 12th ed., London: Sweet & Maxwell, para 7.011. ISBN 0-421-90690-1. 
5. ^ List of vexatious litigants (England and Wales). HM Courts Service. Retrieved on 2007-07-07.

See also

Harassment refers to a wide spectrum of offensive behavior. When the term is used in a legal sense it refers to behaviors that are found threatening or disturbing, and beyond those that are sanctioned by society.
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Adversary may refer to:

In religion
  • Satan, whose name means adversary in the Hebrew language.
In computer science:
  • Adversary (cryptography), malicious entity in cryptography whose aim is to prevent the users of the cryptosystem from

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Frivolous litigation is a legal claim or defense presented even though the party and the party's legal counsel had reason to know that the claim or defense had no merit. A claim or defense may be frivolous because it had no underlying justification in fact, or because it was not
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In the law, a cause of action (sometimes called a claim) is a set of facts sufficient to justify a right to sue. The phrase is also used to reference the legal theory upon which a plaintiff brings suit (such as breach of contract, battery, or false imprisonment).
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Legal or judicial procedure is the body of law and rules used in the administration of justice in the court system, including such areas as civil procedure, criminal procedure, appellate procedure, administrative procedure, labour procedure, and probate.
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Sanctions are usually monetary fines, levied against a party to a legal action or his attorney, for violating rules of procedure, or for abusing the judicial process. The most severe sanction is the involuntary dismissal, with prejudice, of the complaining party's cause of action,
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Pearson v. Chung is an American civil court case, in which a plaintiff Roy L. Pearson, Jr., a Washington, D.C. administrative law judge, filed lawsuit in 2005 demanding $67 million from a small dry cleaning company that had allegedly mishandled his pair of trousers.
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Pearson v. Chung is an American civil court case, in which a plaintiff Roy L. Pearson, Jr., a Washington, D.C. administrative law judge, filed lawsuit in 2005 demanding $67 million from a small dry cleaning company that had allegedly mishandled his pair of trousers.
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For the fish called "lawyer", see .
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person licensed to practice law.
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A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service provided by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent their clients in civil or
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Disbarment is a revocation of a lawyer's ability to practice law or argue cases. For most lawyers, this can essentially mean no longer having a livelihood.

Generally disbarment is imposed as a sanction for conduct indicating that an attorney is not fit to practice law,
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jurisdiction (from the Latin ius, iuris meaning "law" and dicere meaning "to speak") is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to
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Julian Knight (born March 4, 1968) is the mass murderer who on August 9 1987, shot dead 7 people and injured 19 during a shooting spree in Clifton Hill, Victoria, in what became known in Australian history as the Hoddle Street Massacre.
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Julian Knight (born March 4, 1968) is the mass murderer who on August 9 1987, shot dead 7 people and injured 19 during a shooting spree in Clifton Hill, Victoria, in what became known in Australian history as the Hoddle Street Massacre.
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The Hoddle Street massacre is the name given to a mass murder that occurred on the evening of Sunday, August 9, 1987 in Hoddle Street, Clifton Hill, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. The shootings resulted in the deaths of 7 people, and serious injury to 19 others.
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