Legal Definitions - process, abuse of

Definition: The misuse of a court process to achieve an unlawful or unauthorized result. This is also known as abuse of legal process, wrongful process, or malicious abuse of process. It is different from malicious prosecution.

Examples:

• Filing a lawsuit against someone with no intention of actually pursuing the case, but rather to harass or intimidate them.
• Using a court order to seize property that is not related to the case at hand.
• Threatening to file a lawsuit in order to force someone to do something they are not legally obligated to do.

These examples illustrate how someone can use a court process for a purpose other than what it was intended for, causing harm to the other party. This is considered an abuse of process and can result in legal liability.