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Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code - Section 11.054. Criteria For Finding Plaintiff A Vexatious Litigant

Legal Research Home > Texas Lawyer > Civil Practice & Remedies Code > Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code - Section 11.054. Criteria For Finding Plaintiff A Vexatious Litigant

§ 11.054. CRITERIA FOR FINDING PLAINTIFF A VEXATIOUS 
LITIGANT.  A court may find a plaintiff a vexatious litigant if the 
defendant shows that there is not a reasonable probability that the 
plaintiff will prevail in the litigation against the defendant and 
that:
		(1)  the plaintiff, in the seven-year period 
immediately preceding the date the defendant makes the motion under 
Section 11.051, has commenced, prosecuted, or maintained in propria 
persona at least five litigations other than in a small claims court 
that have been:
			(A)  finally determined adversely to the 
plaintiff;                        
			(B)  permitted to remain pending at least two 
years without having been brought to trial or hearing;  or
			(C)  determined by a trial or appellate court to 
be frivolous or groundless under state or federal laws or rules of 
procedure;
		(2)  after a litigation has been finally determined 
against the plaintiff, the plaintiff repeatedly relitigates or 
attempts to relitigate, in propria persona, either:
			(A)  the validity of the determination against the 
same defendant as to whom the litigation was finally determined;  or
			(B)  the cause of action, claim, controversy, or 
any of the issues of fact or law determined or concluded by the 
final determination against the same defendant as to whom the 
litigation was finally determined;  or
		(3)  the plaintiff has previously been declared to be a 
vexatious litigant by a state or federal court in an action or 
proceeding based on the same or substantially similar facts, 
transition, or occurrence.

Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 806, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.           

Last modified: August 10, 2007