PLAINTIFF’S BRINGING MULTIPLE MERITLESS LAWSUITS AGAINST DEFENDANT AND HER ATTORNEYS OVER THE COURSE OF TEN YEARS WARRANTED SANCTIONS (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department, reversing (modifying) Supreme Court, determined plaintiff’s bringing several meritless lawsuits against defendant and her attorneys over the course of ten years warranted sanctions:

Supreme Court improvidently exercised its discretion in denying defendant an award of sanctions despite noting that plaintiff’s “conduct was entirely frivolous,” “abusive,” and “fabricated.” The record firmly established that plaintiff engaged in a persistent pattern of extended and largely meritless litigation against defendant … , rendering his conduct frivolous within the meaning of 22 NYCRR 130-1.1(c) and thereby warranting sanctions. Plaintiff’s numerous lawsuits initiated against both defendant and her attorneys—six separate suits between 2010 and 2020, all dismissed at the pleading stage—strongly suggests that those lawsuits, along with the present action, were brought primarily to harass defendant … . Our prior decision holding that sanctions for frivolous conduct were not warranted does not affect our decision to grant the motion for sanctions here, as the result in our prior decision (Ray v Ray, 180 AD3d 472, 474 [1st Dept 2020]) was not based on these particular facts. Ray v Ray, 2024 NY Slip Op 05777, First Dept 11-19-24

Practice Point: Here plaintiff’s multiple meritless lawsuits against defendant and her attorneys warranted sanctions for “frivolous conduct.”