Vexatious Litigation

Vexatious litigation is legal action brought solely to harass or subdue an adversary, whether as a single frivolous lawsuit or as a pattern of repetitive, meritless motions filed within an otherwise legitimate case. It is treated as an abuse of the judicial process and can draw sanctions against the person responsible, and a lawyer or firm that assists such a litigant risks disbarment, which is part of why habitual vexatious litigants often represent themselves. A single frivolous filing is not usually enough to label someone vexatious; courts generally require a demonstrated pattern of repeated abuse before applying the designation. Many common law jurisdictions, including Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States, maintain formal registries of vexatious litigants, who are then barred from further litigation or required to obtain a senior judge's permission before filing again; civil law systems typically have no equivalent prohibition. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/