Title 8
Courts and Civil Procedure — Courts

Chapter 8.4
Abusive Litigation.

§ 8-8.4-4. Burden of proof.

(a) If the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that a party is engaging in abusive litigation and that any or all of the motions or actions pending before the court are abusive litigation, the litigation may be dismissed, denied, stricken, or resolved by other disposition with prejudice.

(b) After providing the parties an opportunity to be heard on any order or sanctions to be issued, the court may enter an order restricting abusive litigation that shall include conditions deemed necessary and appropriate, including:

(1) Awarding the other party reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs of responding to the abusive litigation, including the cost of seeking the order restricting abusive litigation;

(2) Awarding the other party all costs of the abusive litigation, including, but not limited to, court costs, lost wages and transportation costs, including trips to the courthouse to review files or pleadings, and costs of childcare expended as a result of defending said litigation;

(3) Identifying the party protected by the order and imposing prefiling restrictions upon the party found to have engaged in abusive litigation that pertains to any future litigation against the protected party or the protected party’s dependents; and

(4) Any other relief deemed necessary and appropriate by the court.

(c) If the court finds that the litigation does not constitute abusive litigation, the court shall enter written findings and the litigation shall proceed.

(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting the court’s inherent authority to control the proceedings and litigants before it.