Frivolous Lawsuits: What are your options?
Find out possible options you can follow when you’re hit with a frivolous lawsuit

Many bizarre lawsuits are filed in the United States every year. If you’re hit with a frivolous lawsuit, what should you do? Simply ignoring the lawsuit is not an issue. Learn about your options with frivolous lawsuits.

It is important to understand a few things first when talking about frivolous lawsuits. Basically, the question of what is or is not frivolous is not as easy to answer as it may seem at first glance. For example, recall the famous McDonald’s case in which the defendant was rewarded three million dollars for the hot coffee the fast food restaurant served her without warning. However, the lawsuit itself was not frivolous—McDonald’s did bear some responsibility for the coffee, although the amount rewarded was perhaps out of proportion.

Practically anyone can file a lawsuit as long as they have the money to do so in our justice system. It costs a couple hundred dollars depending on the location. The person, in filing such a lawsuit, makes various claims against the defendant. If the claims are so preposterous as to be considered frivolous, the court does not pronounce them illegal. Lawsuits are a matter civil, and not criminal, law. In short, a civil lawsuit decides fault, and not whether something is illegal.

Although a judge will not rule a frivolous lawsuit to be illegal, he or she can take another step. The defendant can file a motion called a summary judgment as the case proceeds. The defendant in that motion argues that even if all the facts supported by the evidence offered by the plaintiff are presumed to be true, the defendant still has done nothing wrong. The lawsuit is over if the judge agrees. The judge may also be able to award costs and fees to the defendant depending upon the state. However, the defendant also has another bullet in his arsenal.

A defendant has the option to file a malicious prosecution lawsuit upon successfully defending a claim. In certain states, these are sometimes called “slap” lawsuits. The defendant argues, in such a lawsuit, that the plaintiff filed a frivolous lawsuit simply for the purpose of harassing or causing the defendant to spend money on attorney fees. If the defendant is successful in bringing the claim, he or she can often recover the fees spent on an attorney and other damages. The amount recovered depends upon the relevant state law.

Although frivolous lawsuits are a fact of life in our modern society, a determined defendant in a civil lawsuit has the ability to turn around and get back at the plaintiff for filing them.