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EspañolWhat is the definition of abusive litigation in Rhode Island?
“Abusive litigation” means a legal action taken in court or related to a court case that is intended to abuse, harass, intimidate, threaten, or maintain contact with you.1 It is often carried out by an abusive partner who is trying to keep power and control over a victim who has left the relationship or is in the process of trying to leave. Abusive litigation can be any kind of legal action, including but not limited to:
- filing or serving a summons, complaint, or petition;
- filing or serving a motion, notice of court date, or order to appear; or
- filing or serving a subpoena, subpoena duces tecum, interrogatories, request for production of documents, notice of deposition, or another discovery request.2
If you are facing abusive litigation, you may be able to ask the court to restrict the ability of the abuser to continue to file new cases or motions.
1 RI Gen. Laws § 8-8.4-1(1)
2 RI Gen. Laws § 8-8.4-1(4)
What can a judge include in an order restricting abusive litigation?
A judge who finds that litigation is abusive may dismiss, deny, strike, or otherwise resolve any motions or other legal actions “with prejudice,” which means that they cannot be re-filed.1 In an order restricting abusive litigation, the judge may include any conditions that are necessary and appropriate, including:
- awarding you reasonable attorney’s fees and the costs of responding to the abusive litigation;
- awarding you all the costs of the abusive litigation, including but not limited to:
- court costs;
- lost wages;
- transportation costs; and
- childcare costs; and
- putting pre-filing restrictions on the abuser to prevent him/her from filing any future cases against you or your children without court permission.2
1 RI Gen. Laws § 8-8.4-4(a)
2 RI Gen. Laws § 8-8.4-4(b)
How do I prove the abuser is engaging in abusive litigation?
There are certain circumstances that will create what is called a “rebuttable presumption” that the court case against you is, in fact, abusive litigation. This means that if you can show one of the following situations has happened, the judge will assume the litigation is abusive and the abuser would then bear the burden of proving otherwise:
- The same or substantially similar issues have been litigated in any court between you and the abuser within the past five years;
- The same or substantially similar issues have been raised or pled in a court case in the past five years and the judge heard the evidence and made a decision (decided on the merits) or it was dismissed;
- The abuser has been punished (sanctioned) by any court in the past five years for filing one or more cases against you that were found to be without a legal basis (frivolous), harassing (vexatious), “intransigent,” or in bad faith;
- The abuser has been found by any court to have engaged in abusive litigation or similar acts and that court placed pre-filing restrictions on him/her;
- The abuser’s legal claims against you are not based on:
- any existing law;
- a reasonable argument that the current law should be changed; or
- a reasonable argument for passing a new law;
- The abuser’s factual allegations against you are not based on adequate evidence or there is unlikely to be adequate evidence after further investigation; or
- One or more of the issues that the abuser is using as the basis of the current case against you has already been filed in another court, and the abuser lost in that other court after the issues were litigated.1
1 RI Gen. Laws § 8-8.4-3
