frivolous

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Frivolous

Of minimal importance; legally worthless.

A frivolous suit is one without any legal merit. In some cases, such an action might be brought in bad faith for the purpose of harrassing the defendant. In such a case, the individual bringing the frivolous suit might be liable for damages for Malicious Prosecution.

A frivolous appeal is one that is completely lacking merit, since no review able question has been raised therein.

frivolous

adj. referring to a legal move in a lawsuit clearly intended merely to harass, delay, or embarrass the opposition. Frivolous acts can include filing the lawsuit itself, a baseless motion for a legal ruling, an answer of a defendant to a complaint which does not deny, contest, prove, or controvert anything, or an appeal which contains not a single arguable basis (by any stretch of the imagination) for the appeal. A frivolous lawsuit, motion or appeal can result in a successful claim by the other party for payment by the frivolous suer of their attorneys fees for defending the case. Judges are reluctant to find an action frivolous, based on the desire not to discourage people from using the courts to resolve disputes.

frivolous

adjective childish, flighty, flimsy, flippant, giddy, immaterial, inanis, insignificant, levis, light, meaningless, minor, nugax, of little weight, of no account, paltry, petty, senseless, shallow, silly, slight, trifling, trivial, unimportant, unserious, unworthy of serious notice, worthless
Associated concepts: frivolous answer, frivolous appeal, frivvlous cause of action, frivolous claims, frivolous pleading

References in periodicals archive ?

That Rule also provides for a neutral arbiter to approve of two-way shifting of reasonable fees in response to frivolous litigation.

Paving the Delaware way: legislative and equitable limits on bylaws after ATP

The catchphrase recited by the Court suggests that lawyer-driven litigation is frivolous litigation.

A modest proposal for securities fraud pleading after Tellabs

4) In civil actions, by contrast, the focus shifts from the balance between the rights of criminally accused defendants to access to courts and effective representation, to the effect frivolous litigation has on ultimately prevailing parties by draining their resources.

Order in the courts: the ongoing challenge of safeguarding against frivolity and extortion

Parties--but not their lawyers--could be spared sanctions for frivolous litigation if they did not understand their cases were baseless under a bill that cleared a House committee last month.

Bill would spare clients in frivolous filing cases

We are pleased with this victory and happy to put an end to this frivolous litigation.

Company Watch - Air Canada

The company chief executive officer, David N Pierce, said, 'This case is a reminder that we have a long way to go to stop the frivolous litigation that burdens US business.

FX Energy Reports Dismissal of Class Action

In a dissent, Chief Justice John Roberts warned that the decision will spur frivolous litigation and undermine public confidence in the judiciary.

When conflicts cry out

Yet another significant problem area today is frivolous litigation, perceived as the single leading cause of disputes by 48% of respondents and among the top three management issues by 63%.

Managers identify legal battles as hot button issue

An ownership structure that protects the business wealth from frivolous litigation and claims.

Succession planning benefits the company and the owner

The authors' meticulous empirical research offers surprising findings, from the revelation that high contingent attorney fees actually reduce frivolous litigation, to an observation of extreme disparity in the size of tort awards in different regions of America.

Judge and Jury

That suggests that "moves to combat frivolous litigation will have a limited effect on total costs," the authors say.

Legal debate: assumptions on medical malpractice called into question

Your dissemination of false and misleading information and your threats of specious and frivolous litigation resulted in enormous cost to the district," wrote Brownlee.