SHARING >NEW LAW Provides Much-Needed Relief from Abusive Litigation by Domestic Violence Perpetrators
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Posted on December 10, 2020 by
James Stensel
In March 2020, the Washington State Legislature passed legislation
against “abusive litigation.” Abusive litigation is regularly
perpetrated by domestic violence abusers and has been referred to as
“legal bullying.” . In addressing this problem, the Legislature
recognized that family law cases including dissolution's, legal
separations, parenting plan actions, and protection order proceedings
are commonplace for abusive litigants. Under RCW 26.51.et. seq., the
Legislature summarized that:
[I]individuals who abuse their intimate partners often
misuse court proceedings in order to control, harass, intimidate,
coerce, and/or impoverish the abused partner. Court proceedings can
provide a means for an abuser to exert and reestablish power and control
over a domestic violence survivor long after a relationship has ended.
The legal system unwittingly becomes another avenue that abusers exploit
to cause psychological, emotional, and financial devastation. This
misuse of the court system by abusers has been referred to as legal
bullying, stalking through the courts, paper abuse, and similar terms.
The legislature finds that the term “abusive litigation” is the most
common term and that it accurately describes this problem.
While having no effect on a person’s constitutional right to access
to the courts, the new laws grant the court additional discretion to
terminate, mitigate, and address abusive litigation.
Under this legislation, a victim may assert a claim of abusive
litigation if the party filing or advancing the litigation is currently
or previously an intimate partner, and has been found to have committed
domestic violence against the victim. At the same time, the court must
find that the claims, allegations, and other legal contentions are not
warranted under the law, or that the factual contentions are not
supported by evidence, or that the issue presented was previously filed
and disposed of unfavorably to the party advancing the claim.
Under the new law, the courts are now empowered to enter an order
restricting abusive litigation, which may be requested by party motion,
motion response, petition, answer, or even by the court upon its own
motion. Upon request, the court will set a motion hearing to determine
whether the litigation meets the definition of abusive litigation. If
the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that a party is
engaging in abusive litigation, the action will be denied. In addition,
the court will enter an “order restricting abusive litigation,” which
will impose all costs and reasonable attorney fees incurred, and will
impose a not less than 4- and not more than 6-year pre-filling
restriction upon the party found to have engaged in the abusive
litigation. The abusive litigator will be required to seek permission
from the court before proceeding with future litigation against the
other party.
For domestic violence survivors who are continuing to be dragged
through the courts by their abusers, this new law provides a much-needed
avenue for relief from abusive litigation, effective January 1, 2021.
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