Vermont Statutes Title 15 Sec. 1183
Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 15 Sec. 1183
- Abusive litigation: means litigation where the criteria set forth below in each of subdivisions (A)-(D) are found to have been established:
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Litigation: means any kind of legal action or proceeding, including:
- Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
§ 1183. Hearing; procedure
At the hearing, evidence of any of the following shall create a rebuttable presumption that litigation is being initiated, advanced, or continued primarily for the purpose of harassing, intimidating, or maintaining contact with the other party:
(1) The same or substantially similar issues between the same or substantially similar parties have been litigated within the past five years in the same court or any other court of competent jurisdiction.
(2) The same or substantially similar issues between the same or substantially similar parties have been raised, pled, or alleged in the past five years and were decided on the merits or dismissed.
(3) Within the last 10 years, the party allegedly engaging in abusive litigation has been sanctioned by any court for filing one or more cases, petitions, motions, or other filings that were found to have been frivolous, vexatious, intransigent, or brought in bad faith involving the same opposing party.
(4) Any court has determined that the party allegedly engaging in abusive litigation has previously engaged in abusive litigation or similar conduct and has been subject to a court order imposing prefiling restrictions. (Added 2023, No. 48, § 1, eff. September 1, 2023.)