Skip to main content

Vexatious litigation

Legal proceedings started with malice and without good case.  Vexatious litigation is meant to bother, embarrass, or cause legal expenses to the defendant.  A plaintiff who starts such litigation either knows or should reasonably know that no legal basis for the lawsuit exists.  To obtain a remedy for vexatious litigation, the injured party often files a claim for malicious prosecution.

Definition from Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary

A lawsuit that is filed when there is no legal basis, and with the purpose to bother, annoy, embarrass, and cause legal expenses to the defendant. Vexatious litigation also includes continuing a lawsuit after discovery of the facts shows it has absolutely no merit. Vexatious litigation may lead to a legal claim of malicious prosecution against the vexatious litigant. Most states allow a judge to penalize plaintiffs and attorneys for filing or continuing a frivolous legal action. (See also: frivolous)

Definition provided by Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary.

August 19, 2010, 5:26 pm

 

"Chief Justice Marshall . . . recognized the unique position of the Executive Branch when he stated that '[i]n no case . . . would a court be required to proceed against the president as against an ordinary individual.'”

"[T]hese principles do not mean that the 'President is above the law.'  Rather, they simply acknowledge that the public interest requires . . . protecting the Executive Branch from vexatious litigation that might distract it from the energetic performance of its constitutional duties."

Cheney v. U.S. Dist. Court for Dist. of Columbia, 542 U.S. 367, 381-82 (2004) (citation omitted).