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Sanctions for Frivolous Litigation

August 6, 2017 By

Besides preventing a litigant from filing additional motions without the prior permission of a court, the court can also sanction a litigant and or his/her attorney that engages in vexatious or frivolous conduct.  That is what happened in 20-2-3688 Doblin v. Doblin, N.J. Super. App. Div. (per curiam) (20 pp.)

In Doblin, the parties married in 1994, had a child in 1996, separated in 1997, and divorced in 1998.  Therefore, the marriage lasted a mere four years.  However, from 1998 to 2012 the defendant engaged in extensive post-divorce litigation, including disputes regarding child support, child custody and parenting time, and alimony to defendant.

Reaching close to its limit, the court warned defendant and her attorney that defendant had to stop filing motions requesting relief for matters that were already decided in the case or be sanctioned.  However, defendant and her attorney ignored the court’s warning and continued to engage in litigation.  Having had enough, the court sanctioned defendant’s attorney and assessed counsel fees against the attorney for frivolous litigation.

It is often frustrating to deal with unreasonable attorneys and their clients.  However, as I often tell my clients, litigation is a marathon and not a sprint.  Stay the course, do what is required, follow court orders and at some point the court will have had enough with the other side and will caution them to behave.  Should they continue, the unreasonable conduct will likely be sanctioned.

Filed Under: Blog: The Barker Chronicles

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